Ralf Schumacher believes that Carlos Sainz should have been punished more severely for his collision with Oscar Piastri during the Hungarian GP. The German calls the incident, in which Piastri lost valuable time in the fight for victory, ‘an absolute no-go’ and considers a five-second time penalty insufficient. “As far as I’m concerned, he should have received a grid penalty for the next race at Zandvoort.”
The cause of the incident was partly due to a system failure at the Hungaroring, which meant several drivers did not receive the usual blue flags when they were being lapped. When Piastri – at that moment the virtual race leader – ended up behind Sainz, the latter was focused on a duel with Fernando Alonso. In an attempt to pass the Williams, the Spaniard left no room and the two cars collided. Piastri came away unscathed but lost a lot of time to Lando Norris, who shortly afterwards took the lead. Sainz ultimately received a five-second time penalty.
Schumacher wants to punish Sainz more severely
Schumacher finds that penalty not fitting the seriousness of the incident. “It’s something that makes you furious,” he said on behalf of the German branch of Sky Sports. “Neither of them was fighting for points,” he referred to Sainz and Alonso. “Then the race leader came along, and Sainz crashed into his car. An absolute no-go as far as I’m concerned. A normal penalty is not enough. As far as I’m concerned, Sainz should be punished for the next race – get him during qualifying at Zandvoort. This must not set a precedent.”
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The former Williams driver believes that Sainz simply should have been more aware of his surroundings. “Every driver knows how it works,” he continued sternly. “You have your engineer, you ask questions and you also look in your mirrors. If he tells me he can’t look in his mirrors while driving, then he is oversteering and should stop. This was really unsportsmanlike.”
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Read everything about the Dutch GP in Zandvoort here
