Carlos Sainz criticizes the FIA stewards and rival Liam Lawson. The Spaniard received a ten-second time penalty during the Dutch GP at Zandvoort for a collision with his Racing Bulls competitor and expressed his frustration afterwards. According to Sainz, the penalty was a ‘complete joke’. He also hopes that Lawson – who he believes is often guilty of unnecessary incidents – will learn from the incident.
The clash occurred shortly after the restart behind the safety car. In the first corner, the Williams driver chose the outside, after which Lawson dived inside. In doing so, he hit Carlos Sainz‘s right front wheel – causing the Spaniard a flat tire. While Sainz expected a penalty for Lawson, the FIA ruled that he himself was largely responsible. His front axle would indeed have been behind that of Lawson. Afterwards, he strongly criticized this decision.
‘Complete joke’
“It seems pretty clear to me what happened,” Sainz sighed, visibly irritated. “There are countless examples of two cars driving side by side in the first corner without any contact. But with Liam (Lawson, ed.) that seems to be more difficult. He often opts for contact and takes unnecessary risk of a flat tire or dropout. Hopefully, he will learn something from this, because these kinds of actions also cost him too many points. The fact that I get a ten-second penalty on top of that, I find a complete joke.”
After his media obligations, Sainz went to the stewards to demand clarification. “I want to hear their point of view, because this is unacceptable,” he continued. “This level of judging is unworthy of Formula 1. As a driver, but also as co-director of the GPDA (the union for Grand Prix drivers, ed.) I am worried about this. I will definitely bring this up.” Sainz eventually finished thirteenth, far behind teammate Alex Albon, who scored valuable points for Williams with a fifth place. “That sums up my season a bit,” he concluded defeated. “Another race where I could have been fifth, but due to force majeure, I miss important points.”
