Carlos Sainz Calls For F1 Stewarding Change After FIA "Breakthrough"

Carlos Sainz has called for a change to stewarding at Formula 1 races following Williams' successful Right of Review appeal over his penalty at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Spaniard was penalised 10 seconds and hit with two penalty points after a collision with Liam Lawson when trying to go around the outside of the first corner at Zandvoort, with both Sainz and the Racing Bull damaged by the incident and dropping down the order.

The 10-second penalty dropped Sainz out of points contention while the penalty points took him to four out of 12 for the 12-month rolling period.

Sainz: "The mechanism is there"

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, Carlos Sainz, Williams — Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, leads Carlos Sainz, Williams, through Turn 12 at the 2025 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort. | Red Bull Content Pool

After the review, however, the penalty points were rescinded and an error was admitted, though the results couldn't be adjusted because the 10-second penalty was served during the race and not added to his final race time.

It was a rare win for a team in an RoR, with the exercise typically used for teams to gain greater understanding of different scenarios.

“It's a breakthrough because it's the first time that I've managed to present new evidence and accept a hearing," said Sainz ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, as per Motorsport.com.

“We tried before and we never managed in other teams, so it shows that the mechanism is there and is there for a reason, which I'm finally happy that we can use that mechanism in the case where it's black and white like it was in my case.”

Stewarding reform

Touchdown at the Baku City Circuit 🇦🇿 pic.twitter.com/jah7Rp7pXy
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) September 18, 2025

F1 is governed by the FIA and its race stewards differ from race to race, given the fact they are volunteers and therefore don't commit to a full-time role.

The presence of full-time, fully paid stewards has been debated in recent years with concerns often arising over the level of consistency in decision-making and it is something that Sainz - who also acts as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association - would like to see addressed.

“As a group, FIA, if we all agree, that should be the way forward where at least two of the three stewards are permanent and we have one rotational for teaching purposes and sporting fairness purposes, to have always one rotational but two permanent,” he explained.

“We shouldn't care about who pays because there's enough money in the sport to pay those salaries, the same way that there's enough money in the sport to pay the salaries of all the other people.

“So if that's the right way forward, I cannot believe we're talking about those salaries.”

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