On Saturday, Sainz held off Aston Martin driver Stroll at the end of a lap, for which he was summoned by the stewards. Sainz was fined and also got his third reprimand of the 2022 season.
While Sainz accepted the blame and apologized to Stroll, he was left frustrated on Sunday night by the lack of consistency in the punishment for similar offences.
On his exit lap after a crucial streak of pit stops, Sainz lost the lead and the potential win after being held up for a U-turn by Williams driver Nicholas Latifi, amid numerous other incidents on the streets narrow streets of the principality.
The time lost allowed Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to overtake him and take the lead, which he held until the finish.
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Sainz’s teammate Leclerc was also held back by doubled traffic during an important phase of the race, as Alex Albon’s other Williams emerged ahead of Leclerc after pitting for slicks, while the Monegasque driver still used intermediaries.
Albon said he thought he could stay ahead because of the extra pace on the slicks, but eventually held off Leclerc for a full lap before going straight to Ste Devote.
Sainz said he couldn’t understand why no Williams driver faced action, when he was penalized for a less impactful infringement in FP3.
“I can’t count the times I’ve been hampered in Monaco this weekend, both dangerous and non-dangerous,” Sainz said.
“What I don’t understand is why we were fined 25,000 euros as a team for an obstruction I did.
Sainz was fined for obstructing Stroll in training
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“I accepted the blame and apologized to Lance. I don’t understand why other cases aren’t investigated and other people aren’t fined for exactly the same thing.”
He added: “It cost us the same and no further action. It was a proper hindrance, so that’s where we want more clarity and we want more consistency, simple as that.”
Team boss Binotto said fining Sainz was the wrong choice as he felt his obstruction of Stroll was not dangerous and the team were doing their best to avoid him in the busy streets of Monaco.
“We know that the traffic situation in Monaco is still very difficult,” added Binotto.
“We did our best, we think the obstruction he did was definitely not dangerous.
“We are not too happy with the fine, we think it was not the right choice.
“We think as a team and as a driver we did our best to avoid it at that time and do nothing wrong.”
