Jacques Villeneuve has once again voiced his criticism of the FIA in response to the penalty Carlos Sainz received during the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort last Sunday. He describes the decision by the FIA stewards as ‘ridiculous’: “You shouldn’t be handing out penalties for something like this.”
Shortly after the restart behind the safety car, an incident occurred during the Dutch GP between Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson and Williams driver Carlos Sainz. The FIA ruled that Sainz deserved a ten-second time penalty for causing the incident. The Spaniard was baffled by this, and Villeneuve agrees with him.
“The penalty was embarrassing for the FIA,” says the former world champion in the Sky F1 Podcast. “Sainz was driving neatly on the outside. It’s as if they’re rolling dice and saying: ‘Okay, who do we give a penalty? There was contact, who do we blame? If it’s 1,2, and 3 it’s this driver, if it’s 4,5, and 6 it’s the other.’ It seems purely arbitrary, it’s ridiculous. How do you judge something like causing a collision, poor driving, or dangerous driving? You’re on the outside, the driver on the inside has a moment and clearly slides out. What else can you do? It’s really ridiculous!”
