Williams Confirm FIA Review Request Over "Ridiculous" Carlos Sainz Punishment

Williams has lodged a right of review appeal to Formula 1's governing body after Carlos Sainz was penalised for his collision with Liam Lawson at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The appeal to the FIA is over the penalty Sainz claimed was "ridiculous" and a "joke" at Zandvoort last weekend, with a 10-second hold at his final stop taking him out of points contention.

Sainz and Lawson have been involved in verbal sparring since, with the Kiwi biting back at the Spaniard ahead of the Italian Grand Prix weekend for what he believed was his rival 'mouthing off' to the media.

Williams confirm review

Carlos Sainz — David Kirouac-Imagn Images

Sainz was behind Lawson at a safety car restart and tried to make a move to the outside of Turn 1 when the pair touched wheels and left both drivers scrambling back to the pits with damage.

After review, the FIA stewards deemed the former Ferrari driver responsible and punished him with the 10-second penalty, leaving Sainz incredulous.

Having allowed the dust to settle before appearing in the FIA pre-weekend press conference at Monza, Sainz still had the same view on the decision and alluded to a potential right of review protest.

"It was very clear to me that as soon as they got all the evidence right and they looked at the places they needed to take the right decision, it was clear to me that I think they realised probably the decision taken wasn’t the best one," said Sainz, who revealed he had spoken to the stewards post-race.

Sainz vents his frustration after being handed a penalty by the stewards for the collision with Lawson 😤#F1 #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/ZuGUBgTan0
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 31, 2025

"Now we are trying to see if we can come up with enough evidence to change the outcome of the penalty, because I still firmly believe it was a very poor penalty I received and a bad judgment, which can happen as long as you have the capacity to revisit it. If there’s been a misunderstanding or a lack of evidence or analysis, then there is still time to reanalyze it, reopen it, and change it.

"I do believe they had a very difficult Sunday looking back at it. They had a very busy afternoon, and maybe it was overwhelming because of the amount of stuff that happened in the race. But I still firmly believe what I thought after the race. Now in a cooler-headed state, I still believe the penalty was not acceptable, and I made it very clear."

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Confirming the submission of the RoR, Williams explained: "It is important for us to understand how to go racing in future and we are hopeful of a positive outcome."

While unlikely any result would change given Sainz served his penalty, the decision to launch the review falls in line with recent examples of teams aiming to gain a better understanding of the situation and to ensure repeats of the scenario don't happen.

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