Their collision was already costly, and then a penalty rubbed salt into Sainz’s wounds
While some drivers enjoyed perfect afternoons in Zandvoort for Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson a clash after the first safety car restart proved very expensive.
Both men had to crawl round to the pits with punctures, while Sainz also needed a new nose.
They both dropped to the back of the field, and then to add insult to injury the FIA stewards deemed that Sainz was handed a 10-second penalty, which he had to take at a subsequent pit stop.
They decreed “that car 30 had the right to the corner and therefore car 55 was wholly or predominantly to blame for the collision,” a view that Sainz inevitably disagreed with, and which left him fuming.
Having called Lawson “stupid” at the time he reined it in a bit after the race. However he hadn’t changed his perspective on the shunt which he felt had cost him the chance to finish as high as P5, the position occupied by team mate Alex Albon, and who has behind him when the collision occurred.
“It’s a corner that allows two cars to race each other without really having to have any unnecessary contact,” he said when I asked him about it. “But with Liam, it always seems to be very difficult to make that happen.
“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, which hopefully it will come with more experience to him, because he knows he’s putting too many points on the line just for an unnecessary manoeuvre, like he did.
“But on top of that, to then get a 10-second penalty for it, I think it’s a complete joke. Honestly, I need to go now to the stewards just to get an explanation, to see what is their point of view of the incident.
“Because it’s unacceptable, I think it’s not the level of stewarding that F1 needs if they are really considering that to be a 10-second penalty. On my behalf, I think it’s a serious matter now that concerns me as a driver, as a GPDA director, and something that I will make sure I raise.”
He added: “It’s something that is very concerning. I’m talking as calmly and with eloquently and trying to pick my words in the best possible way, without trying to put here about a bad word for anyone.
“But what I’ve seen today and what I’ve suffered today is something that concerns me, for myself, but for the other drivers and for motorsport in general, if they really think this is how a penalty should be applied to the guy that is around the outside, I don’t know.”
He was adamant that Lawson was at fault, and that he wasn’t even attempting to pass at that point.
“I wasn’t even really trying to race Liam that hard. I just had a gap around the outside, and so I’m going to start getting him a bit out of position for Turn 2, Turn 3. I wasn’t trying to pass him around the outside.
“I was just trying to have a side-by-side with him to then get him a bit of line for Turn 2, Turn 3, and then suddenly I have a contact, which caught me completely off-guard and by surprise.
“You need to pick your battles. And probably Liam in his first years now, if he’s deciding to have a bit this approach of crash or no overtake, it’s something I’ll keep in keep in mind.
“But the story of my season so far again, a race where I could have finished P5 where Alex is, another 10 points that for something that I cannot understand and is out of our hands.”
Regarding the contact he added: “I’ve raced Lewis, I’ve raced Checo, I’ve raced Oscar, I’ve raced Charles, I’ve raced so many drivers doing the move I did today, so many other cars in the last four years – at the start, racing around inside, outside, high banking, low banking, without really having contact.
“If the guy in the inside doesn’t want to have contact, if the guy in the inside decides to open the wheel and create a contact or risk a contact, then it’s on their behalf, but for the guy on the outside to receive a penalty for it is what concerns me the most.”
Inevitably the two drivers had opposing views on the contact and how it should have been treated by the FIA.
Lawson wasn’t impressed when I told him how unhappy Sainz was with what had transpired.
“I’m sure he’s not,” said the Kiwi. “Obviously I’m not stoked either, it ruined my day. The rules are written as they are, and we know how they’re written.
“And I’ve been on the receiving end this year as well, where I was going for an overtake and thought that I should be given space, and I wasn’t, and I got a penalty.
“So it’s something that we learn from. We all know this. It’s lap one on a restart, it’s super slippery, cold tyres. It’s fine to go for the move, but it’s just risky. And we made concept, which is not ideal, but that’s why he got a penalty.”
Lawson was adamant that he wasn’t the guilty party.
“I think he was overtaking me today, and I also think he got a penalty today. So he can make all the comments in the world he likes. I wish he’d just come and talk to me about it rather than telling everybody else.
“But if it was my fault, I would have got a penalty. I understand his frustration. We don’t want to be in these situations. And as I said, I’ve been on the receiving end as well. It’s just the way the rules are written. And we all know that.”
The collision proved just as costly for Lawson as it was for Sainz, and while he eventually recovered to P12 he missed a shot at finishing within a couple of places of team mate Isack Hadjar.
“We were I guess behind George before everything happened. And the car has been very, very strong. So there’s no reason why we wouldn’t have come home with very strong points today.
“We were just consistent in the first stint, sort of managing. A restart is always aggressive and tough. And obviously it’s time for opportunities. But something that risky when we’re both in the points like that, it just sucks….”
Adam Cooper F1 