F1 stewards rule out review of Sainz's Melbourne penalty

Formula One stewards dismissed a Ferrari petition to review Carlos Sainz's penalty that left the team without points from the Australian Grand Prix.

The stewards who made the original decision in Melbourne held a virtual meeting on Tuesday to decide whether to grant a review of the five-second sanction that dropped Sainz from fourth to 12th.

For that to happen, according to the rules, Ferrari needed to present the hearing with a “significant and relevant new element”. The stewards decided that Ferrari, which offered telemetry and witness statements from Sainz and other drivers, had failed to do that.

“There is no significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned. The petition is therefore dismissed,” they said in a statement.

Sainz was deemed “wholly to blame” for a collision with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who ended up third, at the final restart. The penalty meant Ferrari drew a blank from the third race of the season after Charles Leclerc retired on the opening lap.