Carlos Sainz accuses rival of trying to get him a penalty at Ferrari’s home race

Carlos Sainz has accused Oscar Piastri of trying to get him penalised as the two drivers nearly came together during FP3 ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. There was minor contact between the pair, causing some spicy words over the team radios.

The Spanish driver was on a cool-down lap during the FP3 session on Saturday afternoon, heading into the first corner of the lap. When travelling through the chicane at low speed, he was quickly closed upon by the McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

Sainz, who was parked on the racing line, forced Piastri wide and the two made light contact on the exit of the chicane. The young Aussie, who was heading onto a flying lap as he prepared his qualifying simulation, was left frustrated over the radio.

Dialing in with his race engineer, the 22-year-old exclaimed: “Mate, is Carlos blind or what?” Sainz responded by saying: “Piastri on a corner or Piastri pushing? He was behind me and then he tried to overtake me, I don’t know. He is doing it on purpose I think, seeing if I get a penalty.”

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The stewards did not agree with Sainz’s assessment of the coming together, opting to give the 29-year-old Spaniard a black and white flag for causing a collision with the Australian rookie. Fortunately for him, he escaped a penalty for the altercation.

This is far from the first time Sainz and Paistri have come together on track in the last couple of months. The McLaren and Ferrari drivers collided on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix prior to the summer break, forcing both cars to retire. 

The duo had a close call in the rain at Zandvoort last time out too. With both drivers on intermediate tyres during qualifying, Sainz was lucky not to run into the back of the 22-year-old at the Tarzan corner.

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While this incident was a far from ideal way to start the pair’s Saturday running, all was well that ended well as both drivers enjoyed immense qualifying performances later in the afternoon.

Piastri unqualified McLaren team-mate Lando Norris and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, delivering a P7 finish, while Sainz beat his team-mate and, more importantly, championship leader Max Verstappen as he claimed a sensational pole position in front of the jubilant Tifosi crowd.

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