Liam Lawson feels Carlos Sainz should live with the fact that he fell victim to F1's current regulations regarding overtaking rather than voicing his concerns over the future of motorsport.
Sainz questioned Lawson's approach to motor racing, even though the Spanish driver was hit with a 10-second penalty for causing a collision on lap 27 of the Dutch Grand Prix, the first lap after a safety car restart following a crash involving Lewis Hamilton.
After branding Lawson "stupid" over team radio, in his post-race comments Sainz said Lawson should "pick his battles", but that he was also worried over the level of stewarding if his manoeuvre was deemed a penalty.
"It's a serious matter now that concerns me as a driver, as a GPDA director, and is something I will make sure I raise," said Sainz.
The stewards punished Sainz as in his attempt to overtake Lawson around the outside of Turn 1, they determined that the front axle of his Williams was not ahead of Lawson's Racing Bulls machine, and in "attempting to stay on the outside" of Lawson, "a collision occurred", meaning that he was "wholly or predominantly to blame".
In battling over seventh and eighth positions at the time, the enforced pit stops that followed for punctures on both cars dropped them to the rear of the field, from which they only recovered to 12th [Lawson] and 13th.
"Obviously, I'm not stoked either," said Lawson, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365, when informed of Sainz's remarks. "Ruined my day."
Highlighting the specific nature of the regulations, he added: "The rules are written as they are, and we know how they're written.
"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. It's something that we learn from. We all know this.
"It's lap one of a restart, super slippery, cold tyres. It's fine to go for the move, but it's just risky. We made contact, which is not ideal, but that's why he got a penalty."
Pointed out to Lawson that Sainz had said the New Zealander should change his approach to racing, appreciably the response was pointed.
"I think he was overtaking me, and I think he got the penalty," said Lawson.
"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.
"If it were my fault, I would have got a penalty. I understand his frustration. We don't want to be in these situations as well, and as I said, I've been on the receiving end.
"It's just the way the rules are written, we all know that."
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