ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — Carlos Sainz has labelled his 10-second penalty at the Dutch Grand Prix “a complete joke” after the stewards found him responsible for causing a collision with Liam Lawson.
The two cars collided after Sainz attempted to pass the Racing Bull around the outside of Turn 1 and Lawson drifted into his path.
The stewards blamed Sainz for the collision based on the FIA’s driving guidelines, which state that a car overtaking on the outside must have its front axle alongside the car on the inside in order to have the right to space on the exit of the corner.
Sainz did not have his front axle alongside Lawson at any point through the corner and was therefore held responsible for the collision, which caused punctures on both cars.
However, the Williams driver believes there was plenty of space for both cars in the corner and Lawson had squeezed him wide and caused the collision.
“The incident is quite clear, no?” Sainz said after finishing the race in 13th. “How many examples have we seen in Turn 1 at Zandvoort of two cars racing side by side without contact — it allows cars to race each other without having unnecessary contact, but with Liam it always seems to be very difficult to make that happen.
“[Liam] prefers 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, which 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 stewards in Formula 1 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.”
In a statement, the stewards made clear they had applied the rules by the letter of the driving guidelines.
“The front axle of Car 55 [Sainz] was not ahead of the front axle of Car 30 [Lawson] at the apex of Turn 1,” it said. “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.
“As is standard for a collision of this nature and as prescribed under the guidelines, we imposed a 10-second time penalty on Car 55.”
Lawson said he had also received penalties for falling foul of the driving guidelines and that Sainz should be aware of what is and is not allowed.
“I’m not stoked either — it’s ruined my day,” Lawson said. “The rules are written as they are and we know how they are written.
“We know how they’re written and I’ve been on the receiving end this year as well, where I was going for an overtake and thought that I should be given space and I wasn’t and I got a penalty. So, it’s something that we learn from. We all know this.
“So, it’s Lap 1 on a restart. It’s super slippery, cold tyres and it’s fine to go for the move, but it’s just risky. And yeah, we made contact, which is not ideal, but that’s why he got a penalty.”
Lawson also stated he would rather have discussed the incident with Sainz face-to-face than hear second-hand through the media that the Williams driver had held him to blame.
“I wish he’d just come and talk to me about it rather than telling everybody else, but, you know, if it was my fault, I would have got a penalty,” he said.
“I understand his frustration, we don’t want to be in these situations and, as I said, I’ve been on the receiving end as well, so it’s just the way the rules are written and we all know that.”
