Williams has requested a right of review into the penalty that Carlos Sainz was handed for his collision with Liam Lawson during the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
While Sainz came into the weekend at Zandvoort with high hopes, they were quickly squashed when he made contact with Lawson’s Racing Bull on Lap 27.
The Spaniard made a lunge down the inside of Turn 1, but was squeezed by Lawson, resulting in both drivers incurring punctures that wrecked their points hopes.
To make matters worse for Sainz, he later received a 10-second penalty for the collision, something that he labelled a “complete joke” at the time.
“We have confirm we have submitted a right of review to the FIA relating to Carlos’ penalty in Zandvoort,” a Williams spokesperson said.
“It is important for us to understand how to go racing in future, and we are hopeful of a positive outcome.”
Coming into this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, Sainz revealed that he had been given the opportunity to make his remonstrations clear to the stewards post-race.
“Yeah, I did get the chance to go and speak to them after the race.” Sainz told media including Motorsport Week.
“I had the opportunity to go and sit with them for 15 minutes to analyse the incident, and it was very clear to me that as soon as they got all the evidence right.
“They look at the places that they would have needed to look at to take the right decision.
“It was very clear to me that I think they realised that probably the decision taken wasn’t the best one.”
Sainz stood by the critical statements that he made post-race, describing it as a “poor penalty” that Williams is now hoping to get overturned.
“Now we are trying to see if we can come up with enough evidence and enough stuff to realise if we can change the outcome of the penalty,” he divulged.
“I still firmly believe it was a very poor penalty that I received, and a bad judgment. Which can happen as long as you have the capacity to revisit it.
“If there has been a misunderstanding or a lack of evidence or a lack of analysis, then there is still time to reanalyse it, to reopen it and change it.”
The Williams driver defended the FIA and how chaotic the weekend had turned out. However, he emphasised that it shouldn’t detract from drivers receiving good judgment.
“I do believe they had a very difficult Sunday, looking back at it,” he acknowledged.
“They had a very busy afternoon, and it was overwhelming because of the amount of stuff that happened in the race, on the race or not.
“But I still firmly believe what I thought after the race.
“Obviously, now in a much cooler-headed state, but I still firmly believe what happened was. The penalty was not acceptable, and I made it very clear.”
Sainz wants permanent FIA stewarding panel
In recent years, the FIA has faced persistent criticism for its inconsistent application of penalties.
With changing teams of stewards across the season, resulting in a different group analysing complex rules, Sainz reiterated the need to have a permanent panel.
“I’ve always said it, and I will always support the idea that in F1 we should have fixed stewards, and people, if the regulations are already incredibly complex, it would be very useful to have always the same people judging them and applying them,” he s.aid
“Then you know more or less what you’re dealing with and everything, but my belief is that’s the way forward.
“I’m not speaking in the name of the GPDA or anyone here; that’s my individual belief. I think they have an incredibly difficult job, and sometimes they also have restricted time.”
Beyond the issue of having a permanent team of stewards, the Spaniard criticised the level of detail the FIA used in analysing his incident with Lawson.
“I think what happened in my individual case in Zandvoort was a consequence of also trying to rush a decision without looking deeply enough in the analysis of what happened in the incident,” he continued.
“Once you look at it into detail, I mean if you just apply the rule that there is in the rule book, you could potentially understand why they would want to penalise me.
“The moment you analyse the onboard footage and you go into the detail of what happened, you can clearly see why I should have never got a penalty”
Lewis Hamilton also received a penalty for an incident on his lap to the grid before the start of the Dutch GP, a five-place grid drop that he’s carried into this weekend.
Sainz used this incident as an example of the FIA taking too long, citing that Hamilton could have served his penalty before his eventual DNF, avoiding any ramifications in Monza.
“It’s like maybe in Lewis the decision process took too long, and he’s now having to suffer a penalty in Monza when he did nothing wrong in Monza, let’s say, and he had half an hour during the race to pay a penalty for his infringement,” he explained.
Sainz urged that the FIA and GPDA need to work together to improve decisions made, as he told the media, he doesn’t believe they’re up to the standard of F1 at this stage.
“That shows how difficult the process is, how difficult everything is to handle, and why there are always improvements to be made and always needs to be a collaboration between drivers, FIA, GPDA and FIA to try and find better solutions.
“Again, Zandvoort exposed why we are not at the right level yet for such a difficult but incredible sport to watch.”
READ MORE – Liam Lawson criticises Carlos Sainz conduct after contentious F1 Dutch GP clash
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