Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Ralf Schumacher says Carlos Sainz should still be sanctioned at the next Formula 1 race in Zandvoort after the Williams driver’s collision with Oscar Piastri in Hungary, arguing that a five-second penalty was far too light for hitting the virtual race leader while being lapped.
Speaking to Sky Deutschland, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher called the incident “an absolute no-go” and said “a normal penalty is not enough.” He argued Sainz should be punished “during qualifying at Zandvoort” because allowing the matter to end with an in-race time penalty would “set a precedent.”
The clash came as Sainz was fighting Fernando Alonso for position outside the points when Piastri closed in to lap them. Schumacher’s criticism centered on that context as much as the contact itself. “None of them was fighting for the points,” he said, while Piastri was effectively leading the race at that stage and trying to recover track position in his battle with Lando Norris. After the contact, Piastri escaped damage but lost significant time.
The stewards issued Sainz a five-second penalty, but the case was complicated by a system failure at the Hungaroring that meant several drivers did not receive the usual blue-flag signals on their steering wheels. Sainz also said he did not see Piastri approaching.
Schumacher said those factors did not excuse the incident. He said every driver knows how blue-flag situations work and argued that team radio, mirrors and the trackside flags were enough for Sainz to know a faster car was arriving behind him.
The backlash did not stop with Schumacher. Former Haas team principal Gunther Steiner also said the punishment should have been tougher, arguing on The Red Flag podcast that 10 seconds is the normal sanction for that kind of blue-flag infringement and that the stewards were too willing to consider mitigating circumstances. That widened the criticism of the FIA’s call and kept the focus on whether Sainz’s penalty matched the severity of the incident heading into Zandvoort.