Williams officially request review of Sainz’s penalty for Lawson collision

Williams has formally requested the FIA review the penalty Carlos Sainz Jnr received during the Dutch Grand Prix.

“We can confirm we have submitted a right of review to the FIA relating to Carlos’ penalty in Zandvoort,” said a spokesperson in a statement.

Sainz was given a 10-second time penalty after colliding with Liam Lawson. He served his penalty during the race. Therefore, even if the stewards overturn Sainz’s penalty, his finishing position in the race will not change.

However Williams are keen to clarify the stewards’ decision. “It is important for us to understand how to go racing in future, and we are hopeful of a positive outcome,” said the spokesperson.

Under the ‘Right of Review’ process, the team must prove they have a significant, new and relevant piece of evident for the stewards to consider. If they can do this, a hearing will be held to reconsider the decision in the light of the new information.

Team principal James Vowles said Sainz spoke to the stewards about his penalty after the race in an attempt to understand their view on the collision.

“Carlos and I chatted about it,” he explained in a video issued by the team, “and Carlos then went up to see the stewards to have a discussion over what had happened, why they interpreted it that way and, more importantly, what does the future look like? Because for us, we weren’t outside the boundaries of racing.”

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Vowles said the stewards shouldn’t have issued a penalty to either driver. “It was a racing incident,” he said. “I don’t think either one deserved a penalty.

Williams has not indicated on what grounds it will challenge the decision. However Vowles believes the stewards did not take into account Lawson momentarily losing control of his car as the pair rounded the corner.

“Carlos wasn’t trying to overtake at that point,” said Vowles. “He was trying to put his car alongside, to put essentially Lawson on a compromised line to create opportunity later on.

“With Lawson himself, you can see him looking in his mirrors, and as he does so, effectively gets a snap in the car. So he laterally moves across the track into Carlos, not because his intention is to drive into him, but because for a brief moment he lost control of the car, I think, due to the wake of the Ferrari ahead. But that isn’t Carlos’s fault in that circumstance, particularly.

“Now, what the stewards have deemed, I believe, is that under the racing guidelines and rules, the car on the inside, the car ahead, has the priority of the corner and can wash out wide. That’s fine. I think that’s different to a situation where a car effectively had a snap and moved across laterally in an unpredictable manner.”

Sainz said his conversation with the stewards gave him the impression they had second thoughts about their original verdict.

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“It was very clear to me that as soon as they got all the evidence right and they looked at the places they needed to take the right decision, it was clear to me that I think they realised probably the decision taken wasn’t the best one,” he said. “Now we are trying to see if we can come up with enough evidence to change the outcome of the penalty.

“I still firmly believe it was a very poor penalty I received and a bad judgement, which can happen, as long as you have the capacity to revisit it. If there’s been a misunderstanding or a lack of evidence or analysis, then there is still time to reanalyse it, reopen it, and change it.”

The stewards investigated several incident during and after the race. Sainz suspects their decision on his incident was hurried.

“I do believe they had a very difficult Sunday, looking back at it,” he said. “They had a very busy afternoon, and maybe it was overwhelming because of the amount of stuff that happened in the race.

“But I still firmly believe what I thought after the race. Now in a cooler-headed state, I still believe the penalty was not acceptable, and I made it very clear.”

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane accused Sainz of “crashing into” Lawson and said the incident cost his driver fifth place in the race.

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