The FIA has rejected the time penalty given to Carlos Sainz at Zandvoort. The governing body officially announced this on Saturday. The Spaniard received a ten-second time penalty for an incident with Liam Lawson in the Tarzan corner. The time penalty itself cannot be reversed – Sainz already served the penalty during the race itself – but two penalty points will be removed from the Spaniard’s racing license.
Carlos Sainz was already unhappy with the stewards’ decision regarding the incident with Liam Lawson after the Dutch GP at Zandvoort. The New Zealander was on the inside of the Spaniard in the Tarzan corner, before he hit the right front wheel of the Williams driver. Sainz suffered a puncture as a result of the incident, for which he was surprisingly held responsible. Williams submitted a request for review in the week following the Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Based on this, the FIA ruled that Sainz should not have received the ten-second time penalty, and that the incident between the Spaniard and Lawson was a ‘racing incident’.
‘Mistakes are part of motorsport’
Williams is pleased with the FIA’s decision. “We are grateful to the stewards for reviewing Carlos’ penalty at Zandvoort,” reads the official statement from the team. “We are pleased that they have now decided that he was not at fault and that this was a racing incident. Although it is frustrating that our race was compromised by the original decision, mistakes are part of motorsport. We will continue to work constructively with the FIA to improve processes and to review racing regulations for the future.” Sainz already served his ten-second time penalty during the GP at Zandvoort, but the two penalty points on his racing license that the Spaniard received for the incident will be removed.
