Carlos Sainz has been cleared of blame for his collision with Liam Lawson at the Dutch Grand Prix after the FIA upheld the Williams team’s right of review petition, overturning the Spaniard’s penalty but leaving the race result unchanged.
The incident at Turn 1 in Zandvoort saw Sainz attempt a move around the outside of Lawson’s Racing Bulls, leading to a contact between the Williams’ front right and Lawson’s rear left.
Both cars sustained damage and finished outside the points. But at the time, stewards deemed Lawson had “the right to the corner” and issued Sainz a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points.
Williams contested the ruling, arguing that Lawson had drifted mid-corner. The British outfit subsequently submitted a formal review request which was considered on Friday, September 12th.
FIA: “No driver was wholly or predominantly to blame”
After reassessing the case, the FIA stewards agreed with Williams’ submission that the clash should be considered a racing incident.
“The Stewards agree with Williams’ characterisation of the collision as a racing incident,” read the FIA report.
“The Stewards are satisfied that the collision was caused by a momentary loss of control by Car 30 [Lawson]. However, in the Stewards’ assessment, no driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for that collision.
“Car 55 [Sainz] contributed to the incident by taking the risk to drive close to, and on the outside of, Car 30 when Car 55 had no right to room there and there was a real possibility that, if the collision had not occurred where it did, Car 55 would run out of track at the exit and/or a collision would have occurred at the exit for which the Driver of Car 55 would likely be predominantly if not wholly to blame.
“The time penalty imposed by the Decision was served by Car 55 during the race. The Stewards have no power to remedy that served time penalty by amending the Classifications but note that the gap between Car 55 to the car ahead in the Final Classification of the race (coincidently Car 30) was 17 seconds.
“The Decision having been rescinded, it follows that the 2 penalty points imposed on the Driver of Car 55 are to be removed.”
Although the penalty points were erased, Sainz’s 10-second sanction had already been served during the race, meaning the event’s classification remains unchanged.
Williams: “Mistakes are part of motor racing”
Williams welcomed the outcome, while acknowledging the frustration of having their race compromised by the original ruling.
“We are grateful to the stewards for reviewing Carlos’ Zandvoort penalty and are pleased they have now decided he was not at fault and that this was a racing incident,” the team said in a statement.
“While it is frustrating that our race was compromised by the original decision, mistakes are part of motor racing and we will continue to work constructively with the FIA to improve stewarding processes and review the racing rules for the future.”
A ruling that reignites debate
The reversal will likely surprise many in the paddock, since all relevant footage was available to the Zandvoort stewards at the time of the original call.
Williams admitted that its intention in pursuing the review was “to understand how to go racing in future,” reigniting discussions about consistency in stewarding decisions and the thresholds for right of review admissibility.
While the outcome has little impact on the final results, the decision highlights the importance of the FIA’s review process – and the ongoing scrutiny of how racing incidents are judged at the highest level.
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