A week after their controversial clash at the Dutch Grand Prix, there’s still no love lost between Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson, with the latter now accusing the Spaniard of “mouthing off” in the media about the incident, instead of fronting up directly.
The pair tangled at Zandvoort during the restart on Lap 26, when Sainz launched a move around the outside of Turn 1. Following a contact, both cars suffered punctures, their races wrecked, and stewards placed the blame on the Williams driver, slapping him with a 10-second penalty and two penalty points.
Sainz didn’t hold back after being informed of the in-race sanction, branding the ruling “the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in my life” and blasting Lawson’s defensive style.
“When racing him it always seems to be very difficult to have two cars side-by-side,” Sainz fumed after the race. “He always seems to prefer 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.”
Lawson Hits Back
Lawson, speaking to the media at Monza on Thursday, wasn’t having it.
“I mean, no, to me I’m surprised,” he said, addressing the simmering tension. “It’s that on a restart we have cold tyres, hard tyres. We’re all on new tyres after the Safety Car.
“It’s a naturally difficult corner. We’re all coming in there on lap one. He’s the car going for the overtake around the outside, and he didn’t get his axle where he needed to get it. And somehow I’m deemed as being aggressive. So I don’t really understand it.”
“But it ruined my race. We were in a position to potentially have two cars in the top five, but I didn’t go on the radio and mouth off to everybody about it or to the media.
“So, yeah, it’s his approach after that race but I don’t know why he was so upset, honestly.”
Adding to his frustration, Lawson revealed that despite Sainz’s fiery public remarks, the two have yet to speak one-on-one.
“I haven’t heard from him,” Lawson confirmed. “I would have thought because of how upset he was, he would probably want to talk about it, but he hasn’t. He hasn’t come to talk about it.”
The Rules Are Clear
Lawson insists the updated FIA guidelines leave no room for doubt. Under the agreement between drivers, an overtaking car must have its front axle ahead at the apex to claim the outside line — something Lawson says Sainz failed to achieve.
“I don’t know why I was deemed as being aggressive when he was the car overtaking me,” Lawson argued. “I was just defending, I think if the incident was my fault, I would have got a penalty. So to me it’s pretty clear.”
The row has now spilled into the teams, with Williams formally submitting a Right of Review request to the FIA to challenge the penalty imposed on Sainz.
“We can confirm we have submitted a Right of Review to the FIA relating to Carlos’ penalty in Zandvoort,” a Williams statement read. “It is important for us to understand how to go racing in future, and we are hopeful of a positive outcome.”
The FIA has not yet set a date for the hearing. If the review is granted, both Williams and Racing Bulls will be called to argue their sides before any decision is amended.
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