The stewards are investigating Carlos Sainz after an infraction in the first practice session of Formula 1‘s Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
This comes the race weekend after the stewards handed him a bizarre penalty at the British GP, becoming the first driver to receive a penalty lap at the end of their race.
The Spaniard produced little of note in FP1 at Spa-Francorchamps as he coasted to P20. Producing the most laps of all, his final time of 1:50.862 put him 1.4 seconds short of teammate Alex Albon.
And his placement behind his teammate may not be the only frustration of the session, with a trip to the stewards inevitable following an in-out dash at the pit entry.
Sainz piloted his FW48 across the pit entry line and past the bollard, before making a sudden turn back across the run-off to rejoin proceedings before the start of the pit wall.
He quickly clarified over the radio that it was due to his FW48’s gearbox, though the stewards will argue that he should have committed to a full pit entry procedure.
Previous precedent does not suggest it to be likely for the FIA to hand Sainz anything that would impact his place throughout the weekend.
However, if they do, it would only serve to compound a frustrating recent string of races for the Spaniard, with James Vowles’ squad yet to hit the heights they were optimistic for in 2026.
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