The FIA stewards from the Dutch Grand Prix have decided to rescind part of the controversial penalty handed to Carlos Sainz.
After being adjudged to have caused a collision with Liam Lawson at Zandvoort, Sainz was handed a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points on his super licence, but ahead of the Italian GP, Williams lodged a right of review.
To be successful, the team needed to present "significant, relevant, and new evidence" to the original stewarding panel from Zandvoort, that was not previously available to the stewards at the time of the original decision.
Then, if this was deemed to have been met, the stewards would reopen the decision and apply a new verdict.
In this, Williams was successful, with the two penalty points applied to Sainz's licence wiped, but not the 10-second penalty as the stewards are unable to rescind a served penalty.
Below, you can find the evidence Williams supplied to the stewards, and their new decision below.
The evidence Williams supplied
- Footage from the 360° camera on Car 55 (Sainz)
- Footage from the rear-facing camera on Car 30 (Lawson)
- Testimony from the Driver of Car 55 (Sainz).
As the camera footage from the cameras was not transmitted on the FOM world feed, and only saved on a memory card to be downloaded post-race.
The stewards agreed that the new video evidence was both "new" and "relevant" to the case, with the final "significant" element remaining.
It was then decided that the two video feeds met all three requirements, and so the case was reopened.
Article continues below.
The stewards' verdict in full
Having considered the matter extensively and having reviewed the new video evidence and heard from the drivers of both cars and their team representatives, the Stewards have determined to rescind the Decision. The Stewards agree with Williams’ characterisation of the collision as a racing incident.
The Stewards are satisfied that the collision was caused by a momentary loss of control by Car 30. However, in the Stewards’ assessment, no driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for that collision.
Car 55 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 off 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.
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the Italian Grand Prix! Max Verstappen's dominant win is a lead discussion, as is whether McLaren has set a precedent with its controversial team orders.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!