Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

Sainz and Kvyat cleared after clash

Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat have both been cleared by the stewards after clashing at the start of the final lap of the Spanish Grand Prix.

With Sainz using DRS to attack Kvyat in to Turn 1, the stewards opened an investigation after: "Car 26 [Kvyat] changed direction 3 times on the main straight then under braking, touched Car 55 [Sainz]. Car 55 then left the track and re-joined in front of Car 26".

Sainz went on to retain the place and finish ninth, with Kvyat picking up the final point in tenth. More than two hours after the race, the stewards decided no further action was warranted and provided a number of reasons.

On Kvyat moving three times: 'In relation to the alleged breach of Article 20.3 the Stewards accept the statement of the driver of Car 26, the concurrence of the driver of Car 55 and confirmation from the video evidence, that the first two moves were not defensive and that only the third move was defensive.'

On the contact: 'In relation to the alleged breach of Article 16.1 the Stewards agree with the assertions of the drivers and team representatives that this was a racing incident.'

On Sainz re-joining the track ahead of Kvyat: 'In relation to the alleged breach of Article 20.2 the Stewards consider that Car 55 was in front at the time it entered the corner and accept the evidence of the driver that he slowed in re-joining the track at Turn 2 and gave room at Turn 3 for Car 26, in order to avoid gaining a lasting advantage. The driver of Car 26 also admitted that he slowed at Turn 2 and gave room for Car 55 to re-join the track.'

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.