Carlos Sainz will take a three-place grid penalty at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after the collision with Romain Grosjean on the opening lap in Canada.
The two drivers were tussling on the approach to Turn 3 with the Spaniard pushing the Haas driver onto the grass before they eventually made contact, sending Sainz barreling into an unaware Felipe Massa.
After the race, the Toro Rosso man took to Twitter apologising to both Grosjean and Massa, claiming the Frenchman was in his blind spot. The former Lotus driver seemed to accept it by retweeting, thanking Sainz and praising his attitude.
Before that, however, he had been highly critical of the 22-year-old’s actions.
“I am very unhappy with Carlos’ manoeuvre at the start – what he did to me going into Turn 3, it was very, very dangerous,” Grosjean said.
“I’m glad the car didn’t have too much damage. We changed the front wing and got going again.”
He would then go on to complete the remaining 69 laps on just a single set on the supersoft tyres, benefiting from another engine failure for Fernando Alonso in his McLaren, to claim the final point in 10th.
“It was a tough race,” Romain added. “We needed a bit of luck at the end, which we got with Alonso retiring, and we managed to get a point. It’s great for the team, but we missed a bit of speed today.”
As for Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen he was left aggrieved by a stewards decision to penalise him for passing the McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne just as an early Virtual Safety Car period was ending.
“I went on power anticipating the end of the Virtual Safety Car and I thought I’d probably passed him (Vandoorne) before it ended,” the Dane admitted.
“I wasn’t sure, but I let him past anyway before passing him again at the next corner. Normally, when you give back the position that’s fine. I gave it back and then overtook him straight away.
“He was in front and he had every chance to be in the position he was before the Virtual Safety Car. I feel it’s very unfair the judgement from the stewards. These things happen. My shot at points was over.
“It hasn’t been my weekend but, hopefully, it will turn soon,” he added.
