Carlos Sainz has been reprimanded and Ferrari fined €5000 following a near-miss with McLaren's Oscar Piastri in qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix. It follows a smaller €100 fine for the Scuderia following the Spaniard speeding earlier in the session. Sainz was exiting the pit lane during Q1 behind Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas and was initially unaware of Piastri's presence - the Australian on a slow lap but adjacent to the Ferrari. As Sainz pulled across to take the natural racing line into Turns 2 and 3, Piastri was forced off track to avoid contact, drawing an investigation. Despite calls for leniency from Sainz, who qualified sixth for Sunday's race, the stewards found him to have driven in a 'potentially dangerous' manner.
Stewards verdict
The stewards' report read: "Sainz was exiting the pits and immediately moved to the racing line before turn 2. In doing so Piastri who was on track, had to take avoiding action and was partially forced off track and onto the grass. "In the opinion of the Stewards this was a 'Potentially Dangerous' manoeuvre, and a crash was only avoided by the actions of Piastri. "The Stewards listened to the radio of Bottas, who was the car that exited the pits immediately ahead of Sainz, and Bottas was given ample warning of Piastri approaching on the track. "By comparison Sainz was warned not to cross the white line at the exit of the pits, and was not warned about Piastri until he was already alongside. "Sainz explained that he had briefly caught sight of Piastri as he was rounding turn 1 at the pit exit and gauged that Piastri was on a slow lap. "From then on he did not see Piastri because of the relative angle of the cars. He also explained that he was trying to get to the drying line as quickly as possible. While the Stewards understand this explanation, in their opinion, Sainz rapid move to the line, while unable to see a car that he knew was in the area created a 'Potentially Dangerous' situation. "The Stewards also felt that the team contributed to this situation and therefore issue a team fine."
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