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Williams Racing has issued a statement after the FIA admitted its mistake in penalizing Carlos Sainz at the Dutch Grand Prix. The incident in focus was the contact between the Spaniard and Racing Bulls racer Liam Lawson during a lap 26 restart at Zandvoort on August 31.
When Sainz tried to overtake Lawson on the outside of the banked Turn 1, the two racers cullieded, leaving both cars punctured. The stewards found the Williams racer guilty of causing the collision an slapped him with a 10-second penalty, which he thought was a "complete joke."
Ahead of the Italian GP, Williams filed a petition for a right of review into the incident, which saw Sainz finishing in P13 and leaving Zandvoort without any points. The FIA et Friday, September 12 as the date for Williams, Racing Bulls, and the Dutch GP stewards to convene and investigate the matter.
After Williams gave new evidence, the Stewards found that Carlos Sainz was not at fault for what they called a racing incident. However, the 10-second penalty was not withdrawn because the 31-year-old finished 17 second behind the race ahead of him (Lawson), essentially making the removal of the penalty inconsequential. Although the stewards revoked the two penalty points on his super licence.
Williams put out a statement after the FIA's new ruling, which read:
"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. 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."
Carlos Sainz who blamed Liam Lawson for the incident in the post-Dutch GP interviews. However, the Racing Bulls rookie had stated that the penalty for the Williams racer was warranted. Eventually, both racers finished out of the points in the race that was won by Oscar Piastri.
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