Carlos Sainz Jr. endured a chaotic weekend at the Mexican Grand Prix, where he received two separate penalties for exceeding the pit lane speed limit. However, as the Spanish driver later explained, the cause of these incidents can be traced back to the very first lap of the race.
In Mexico, the Williams driver had already been forced to serve a five-place grid penalty for the collision that occurred at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, involving Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Starting with a setback, his race became even more complicated after contact with Liam Lawson shortly after the lights went out at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
During the Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz was penalized twice more for breaching the pit lane speed limit. To make matters worse, just two laps before the end, he was forced to retire due to another issue with his car. His retirement did not go unnoticed, as it triggered a Virtual Safety Car that led to plenty of debate among teams and fans.
The cause of the double penalty
After the race, Carlos Sainz Jr. revealed what had caused the double pit lane penalty: “It was a race full of problems, probably compromised by the contact at the start. I think there were three or four of us going into Turn 1, and it was complete chaos. As always in Mexico, that first corner is tricky with several cars side by side. I believe I damaged the rim, which then affected my first set of tyres, the rim sensor, the wheel speed sensors, and the pit limiter stopped working.”
Because of the early tyre damage, the Williams driver was forced to pit after just a few laps, adopting a strategy that required a second stop later on. With the pit limiter malfunctioning, Carlos Sainz tried to slow down manually when entering the pit lane, but it was not enough to stay under the limit. Since it was the second infraction, the stewards issued him a drive-through penalty. Carlos Sainz admitted: “Even though we got a five-second penalty after the first stop, we were still fighting for points. But then we had to make another pit stop, and once again, the limiter caused issues. Overall, it was a very difficult day.”
The controversial VSC
In addition to the penalties, Carlos Sainz Jr. was ultimately forced to retire from the race. His off-track moment, however, led to the deployment of a Virtual Safety Car — an incident that is still being discussed in the paddock. The Williams driver explained how he tried to avoid triggering a full Safety Car or VSC: “I went inside the barriers with my car, trying to prevent any Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car. I think I did the safest thing possible. I felt the car was in a safe position. I’m not sure if it was a VSC, double yellow, or something else, but I definitely tried to avoid all of that.”
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