Liam Lawson calls out Sainz for ‘mouthing off’ after Dutch GP penalty

Liam Lawson was irked by Carlos Sainz “mouthing off” to the media about his driving when it was the Williams driver who was penalised for their clash at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Lawson and Sainz collided at the Zandvoort circuit after a Safety Car restart as the Williams man tried to overtake the Racing Bulls driver around the outside at Turn 1.

Liam Lawson: I didn’t mouth off to everybody about it

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Lawson, who by the letter of the law in F1’s racing guidelines, had the corner as he was the car ahead at the apex, closed the door on the Spaniard, and they made contact.

Both drivers were forced to pit for repairs, but Sainz’s day went from bad to worse as the stewards hit him with a 10-second penalty for being “wholly or predominantly to blame for the collision”. He was also given two penalty points on his Super Licence.

Sainz, who decried the penalty as “the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in my life” at the time, declared that when racing Lawson “it always seems to be very difficult” to have two cars racing side-by-side.

“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,” he added.

Lawson was quick to point out to Sainz that he was the one who was penalised by the stewards, “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.”

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Four days later, the Racing Bull driver is standing by his statement.

“I mean, very similar comments to last week,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets in the build-up to the Italian Grand Prix. “The regulations are written as they are. As drivers, we all know that sometimes we don’t agree with it, or sometimes we feel it doesn’t feel right.

“And I had it in cases this year where I tried to make overtakes around the outside of cars and had my wheels even further alongside than Carlos did, and still wasn’t given space, and I always felt like it wasn’t fair. But it’s how the rules are.

“Obviously, as drivers, we’re going to try and maximise them. And the incident, that’s why he got a penalty.

“I don’t know why I was deemed as being aggressive when he was the car overtaking me. I was just defending. And, yeah, I think if the incident was my fault, I would have got a penalty. So to me it’s pretty clear.”

As for Sainz’s claim that it’s “always” with Lawson that these incidents happen, the 23-year-old was surprised by his rival’s harsh criticism and how he vented over the radio and later to the media.

Asked if there was a problem between the two of them, he replied: “I mean, no, to me I’m surprised.

“It’s that on a restart we have cold tyres, hard tyres. We’re all on new tyres after the Safety Car. It’s a naturally difficult corner. We’re all coming in there on lap one.

“He’s the car going for the overtake around the outside, and he didn’t get his axle where he needed to get it. And somehow I’m deemed as being aggressive. So I don’t really understand it.

“But it ruined my race. You know, we were in a position to potentially have two cars in the top five, but I didn’t go on the radio and mouth off to everybody about it or to the media. So, yeah, it’s his approach after that race but I don’t know why he was so upset, honestly.

“If I was overtaking him, I would understand that he’s more frustrated, but he was the car overtaking, and he got a penalty for it.”

Lawson revealed he and Sainz had not spoken since.

“I haven’t heard from him,” he replied to a question posed by PlanetF1.com. “I would have thought because of how upset he was, he would probably want to talk about it, but he hasn’t. He hasn’t come to talk about it.”

This season the FIA released updated guidelines on the rules of racing having drafted the latest update following a meeting between the drivers at last year’s Qatar Grand Prix.

The ‘Driving Standard Guidelines’ makes it clear that the driver overtaking around the outside of a corner must have their ‘front axle ahead of the front axle of the other car at the apex’. Sainz’s was not.

“I think the rules are something that we’re always talking about,” said Lawson. “We’re always trying to fine-tune them and make them a bit better and obviously they’re designed to make close racing and make it as exciting to watch.

“And I think the steps that were made this year were very positive from the last couple of years. And, yeah, like I said, maybe they’re not perfect sometimes, but also I can understand it’s quite hard to see guidelines exactly as you have 20 drivers asking for all these different things.

“So the main thing is, we understand them as they are, and to know that we’re making an overtake, that’s the way they’re written this year; if you don’t have your front axle to the car on the inside, I don’t know why you would expect to be given space, because it says that you don’t have to.

“I think you should at least have your car alongside the car on the inside to be given space. I think that’s naturally as a kid, when we’re racing go karts and we’re trying to go for these overtakes, I think that’s where you’d expect expect to position yourself to be given space.

“And at that point, then I think it’s maybe debatable where you should be given room, or you shouldn’t be given room, but you should at least have your front wheels alongside the car on the inside.”

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