Aston Martin have protested the results of Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix after Carlos Sainz crashed but carried during Q2 on Saturday.
The protest concerns article 39.6 of the F1 sporting regulations which state “any driver whose car stops on the track during the qualifying session or the sprint qualifying will not be permitted to take any further part in that session”.
Sainz stopped for over a minute in Q2 after spinning at the last corner but managed to carry on and went on to qualify in seventh behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso qualified third behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, while Lance Stroll was knocked out in Q2 and will start the Chinese GP from 11th when the lights go out in Shanghai at 8am on Sunday, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event.
What happened to Sainz?
Sainz spun at the final corner with seven minutes remaining in the second part of Qualifying and hit the inside barriers.
The session was stopped just moments after he crashed and it initially looked like Sainz wasn’t able to get going again.
However, around 70 seconds after his incident, he managed to crawl out of the grass without any assistance from the marshals and limped back around to the pit lane without a front wing.
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Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc reflect on an interesting qualifying session with hopes for a stronger result in the race at the Chinese Grand Prix
Ferrari fixed his car and Sainz was able to get into Q3 in third place whilst Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was knocked out in 11th place. Had Sainz not been able to take part in the last minutes of Q2, Stroll would have progressed to Q3.
“I had a big moment and right in the last moment I crashed in the right angle and turned the wheel a bit to make sure I didn’t crash straight with the rear tyre and was a bit more sideways. This probably saved the day,” Sainz told Sky Sports F1.
“From there on, high heart rate and adrenaline but I managed to put a strong lap later in Q2 and recovered well from that moment.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Chinese GP schedule
Sunday April 21
7am: Grand Prix Sunday: Chinese GP build-up*
8am: The CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
10am: Chequered Flag: Chinese GP reaction*
11am: Ted’s Notebook*
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
You can watch every session of the Chinese Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 and steam every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime
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