Carlos Sainz said he had his race compromised by a "cheeky" move from Lewis Hamilton during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The two racers were embroiled in a battle for track position in the early stages of the 2022 season finale. Hamilton had got ahead of the Ferrari driver on the opening lap, but Sainz was clearly not keen on letting him stay there for too long.
The Spaniard tried to move back ahead by launching himself up the inside of the Mercedes going into Turn 6, though the move was a bold one as he was so far behind. The result was a clash with Hamilton, after which the Brit chose to drive off the track and came back onto the circuit ahead of Sainz.
Hamilton did the same thing 12 months earlier, when he clashed with then-title rival Max Verstappen at that same chicane. On that day, the Mercedes man was not punished for going off the track and gaining an advantage, but this time he was told by the stewards to give the place back three laps later or face a penalty.
The Brit duly obliged, but was clever in choosing when to do it. He let Sainz pass at Turn 15, just before a DRS zone which helped the Mercedes to stay close to the Ferrari and he was back ahead soon after.
The Spaniard later got ahead of Hamilton again and finished fourth in the race, but he feels he could have done better had he not been held up by the 37-year-old man. "My race was a bit compromised after the start with the problem on the clutch that we had all weekend that I knew was going to cost me at the start, and then with Lewis when he jumped the chicane," he said.
"But then he let me by in a cheeky way to get my DRS. Although I passed him again, I had to use quite a lot of my tyres, which cost me quite a lot of race time, quite a lot of tyre usage, and which probably forced me into a two-stop. From there on, I was on a slower two-stop and couldn't be in the fight for P2."
Despite clearly being a bit miffed about Hamilton's tactic, Sainz went on to admit it was the clever thing to do and that he would probably have done the same. He added: "I have used that rule or lack of clarity before, so I'm not going to criticise Lewis for that because I would have done something similar."
Sainz was two places behind team-mate Charles Leclerc who finished the race second to guarantee the same spot in the drivers' standings. The result also guaranteed Ferrari the runner-up spot in the constructors' championship, 39 points clear of Mercedes but a whopping 205 adrift of runaway champions Red Bull.
