F1 Pundit Calls Out Australian GP Stewards For Lacking Consistency In Penalties

Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok has called out the Australian Grand Prix stewards for handing Carlos Sainz a penalty, but not Logan Sargeant.

Former F1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok has criticised the inconsistency in the stewards' decisions during the recent Australian Grand Prix. 

He highlighted the penalty handed out to Carlos Sainz and compared it to the lack of punishment for Logan Sargeant for a similar incident. Sainz was penalised with a five-second penalty for tipping Fernando Alonso into a spin, which the Ferrari driver felt was unfair as Alonso took his place back at the restart. 

Meanwhile, Sargeant's collision with Nyck de Vries at the same restart went unnoticed by the stewards. Chandhok called for more consistency in the stewards' decisions and stated that Sargeant's lack of penalty made Sainz's punishment seem even more harsh.

The lack of consistency has left some drivers and teams confused, and there are calls for more clarity in the decision-making process. Fans will be watching to see if the stewards can provide more consistency in their decisions as the F1 season progresses. 

Chandhok's call for consistency is echoed by others, and it's hoped that the stewards take note and apply penalties more uniformly in the future. The pundit wrote to Twitter in response to a post stating that Sargeant should have been given a 3-place grid penalty:

“This is a very fair point. Penalties should be consistent across the field.

“The fact this was completely ignored makes the penalty for Carlos Sainz seem even less fair.

“I should say that whilst I agree that Carlos was more at fault for that incident, the part I think is unfair is that a five second penalty during a Safety Car finish seems to be disproportionate to the crime.”

I should say that whilst I agree that Carlos was more at fault for that incident, the part I think is unfair is that a 5 second penalty during a safety car finish seems to be disproportionate to the crime

— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) April 3, 2023