Carlos Sainz slams “complete joke” Dutch GP penalty as he lays into Liam Lawson

Williams Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz has branded his penalty during the Dutch Grand Prix as a “complete joke” after a collision with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.

The pair had contact during a safety car restart following Lewis Hamilton’s crash at Zandvoort. As Sainz went for the outside line out of Turn 1, Lawson, on the inside, clipped the front-right side of the Williams, causing a puncture.

Sainz was ultimately handed a 10-second penalty and two penalty points on his superlicence for the collision. The Spanish driver requested over the team radio to visit the stewards after the race to discuss the incident. 

The FIA stated: “The front axle of Car 55 [Sainz] was not ahead of the front axle of Car 30 [Lawson] at the apex of Turn 1. Car 55 attempted to stay on the outside of Car 30 and a collision occurred. We considered that Car 30 had the right to the corner and therefore Car 55 was wholly or predominantly to blame for the collision.”

“First of all, the incident, I think, is quite clear. I don’t know how many examples we’ve seen in Turn 1 in Zandvoort of two cars racing side by side without contact,” Sainz explained to the media. “It’s a corner that allows two cars to race each other without really having to have any unnecessary contact.

“But with Liam, it always seems to be very difficult to make that happen. He always seems to prefer to have a bit of contact and risk a DNF or a puncture like we did, than to actually accept having two cars side by side. Hopefully, it will come with more experience to him because he knows he’s putting too many points on the line just for an unnecessary manoeuvre like he did. But on top of that, to then get a 10-second penalty for it, I think it’s a complete joke.

“Honestly, I need to go now to the stewards just to get an explanation to see what is their point of view of the incident because it’s unacceptable. I think it’s not the level of the stewarding that Formula 1 needs if they are really considering that to be a 10-second penalty on my behalf. I think it’s a serious matter now that concerns me as a driver, as a GPDA director and something that I will make sure I raise.”

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

The Spanish driver added that he wasn’t “even really trying to race Liam that hard.”

“I just had a gap around the outside and I said, OK, I’m going to start getting him a bit out of position for Turn 2, Turn 3. I wasn’t trying to pass him around the outside,” Sainz continued.

“I was just trying to have a side-by-side with him to then get him a bit of line for Turn 2, Turn 3 and then suddenly I have a contact which caught me completely off guard and by surprise. You need to pick your battles and probably Liam in his first years now, if he’s deciding to have a bit of this approach of pressure or no overtake, but it’s something I’ll keep in mind.

“But yeah, story of my season so far. Again, a race where I could have finished P5 where Alex is. Another 10 points for something that I cannot understand still gets out of our hands.”

Sainz’s team-mate Alex Albon backed his views, putting the blame on Lawson.

“I don’t know what you guys made of it, but to me it was quite clearly Liam’s fault,” Albon explained. “So I don’t know why Carlos got the penalty. I think I had the best view out of everyone. It looked to me like in the middle of the corner, Liam opened the wheel and just drove Carlos out to dry.

“I don’t know where Carlos could have gone. I think, especially a decision like that, if they’re unsure, should be left to the stewards after the race. But I think it was a wrong decision anyway.”

Photos from Dutch GP – Race