The gremlins are in no mood to let go of Carlos Sainz, who has undeniably had one of the horrendous starts to a Formula One season. What’s more heartbreaking is the timing of this awry phase; The Spaniard’s downward spiral began unfolding right when Ferrari managed to rescue their long-lost F1 form.

Hence, while Charles Leclerc was persistently placing his F1-75 on the podium, his Spanish teammate, amid rising pressure, was struggling to see through a race.

Well, six bitter-sweet races later, heading into the Monaco GP weekend, it finally seemed like Sainz’s bad days were coming to an end. The Ferrari driver hardly ever looked prone to causing incidents and was making most of his flying laps look as clean and smooth as possible.

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The confidence was on the rise with each lap, and by the time qualifying arrived, Sainz was certainly among the favorites for pole position. Everything went as per plan until the very final moments of the qualifying session on the streets of Monte Carlo. But, then, the gremlins returned.

Carlos Sainz under more threat after the Monaco qualifying incident

As always, the entire circuit was active as the final shootout for pole began. Leclerc was on an absolute flier, bolstering his already impressive lap time. But, just as the Monegasque arrived at turn 14, double-waved yellow flags popped out.

Soon after, the cameras caught Sergio Perez blocking the exit of Portier after crashing into the barriers. And Sainz, who was seconds behind the Mexican, failed to notice the yellow flags and headed into the blind corner at full throttle, consequently colliding with the stranded Red Bull.

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The crash didn’t seem bad enough; a possible rear suspension hit and minor floor damage. But, bigger problems are certainly on the way for Sainz. It seemed like the Ferrari driver failed to notice the yellow flags which the stewards might deem as ‘ignorance’.

What’s more, only hours back, the stewards reprimanded Sainz for unnecessarily impeding Lance Stroll during FP3, along with a fine of €25,000. And, with FP3, Sainz already has 3 reprimands for the season and is only one away from a grid penalty.

Another reprimand this weekend could force the stewards to impose a 10-second penalty either in this race or the next in Baku. So, with Sainz under investigation for the Sergio Perez incident, the result could go either way. If found guilty, Sainz will start from P12 on Sunday. Meanwhile, for Perez, potential gearbox damage could force him to take up a 5-place grid penalty.

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So, will the 2 drivers of the championship-contending teams put up a show on Sunday after the shabby end to Saturday’s qualifying?