Carlos Sainz refused to rule out the possibility of incurring a grid penalty at this weekend's French Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was forced to retire last time out in Austria, as he suffered an engine failure as he looked set to race to second place. The power unit blowout was particularly dramatic as it led to his Ferrari quickly becoming engulfed in flames.
A visibly emotional Sainz was "lost for words" after his fourth DNF of a season disrupted by reliability issues and some rotten luck. The fact it came in the wake of his first ever Formula 1 victory at Silverstone a week earlier made it even more difficult to swallow.
With that power unit destroyed, it is inevitable that a grid penalty will now be incurred between now and the end of the season. Asked if he plans to get that punishment out of the way in France this weekend, Sainz said the decision is yet to be made.
"There's a chance we will put a new engine this weekend, which would involve a penalty. But we haven't taken the final decision yet," he told reporters. That non-committal response may be an indicator that Ferrari do intend to fit a new power unit this weekend, given team-mate Charles Leclerc was similarly coy earlier this year.
The Monegasque racer also refused to say one way or another when asked if he planned to take a penalty ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix last month. That topic came up after he suffered an engine blowout of his own in Azerbaijan.
Leclerc did take a new engine and incur a grid penalty that weekend, forcing him to work his way up from the back of the pack. It proved to be a hindrance to his chances of scoring big points, as he could only managed to reach fifth place before the chequered flag was waved.
A failure to score big points in France could be the final nail in the coffin for Sainz's title hopes this season. He is already 37 points behind Leclerc, with Ferrari under pressure to start prioritising one driver to be their main rival to defending champion Max Verstappen.
The Italian team has so far resisted calls to make that decision sooner rather than later, but eventually a choice will have to be made. A poor result for Sainz in France may lead to Ferrari putting all their eggs in Leclerc's basket at his expense.
