Carlos Sainz calls for permanent stewards as his F1 Dutch GP penalty points get overturned

Carlos Sainz addressed his penalty from the Dutch GP and shared his thoughts about the F1 stewards. Speaking about this, the Williams driver, whose penalty got overturned after the right to review, stated that having permanent stewards would help avoid such 'mistakes' in the future.

During the 2025 Dutch GP, Sainz was battling for track positions with Liam Lawson, and this was when the two drivers made contact. The stewards of the race took cognizance of the incident and punished the Spanish driver with a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points to his Superlicense.

As a result, Sainz dropped out of the points and finished the race in P13. After the race, Williams carried out the right to review, and after another thorough check by the governing body, they lifted the penalty. As the verdict came, Sainz shared his thoughts ahead of the Azerbaijan GP.

"I was pretty convinced after the race that it was a mistake or a lack of judgement and I'm very glad that the FIA has had the resources and the possibility to change that," Sainz told Sky Sports F1.

"Moving forward the only thing that I could advocate for is permanent stewards. I think it's something that would help in these kind of cases and keep working as a group to see how we can help the FIA to keep improving in the judgement of these kinds of decisions."

After the penalty was overturned, the FIA removed two penalty points from Carlos Sainz's Superlicense, while nothing can be done about the 10-second time penalty he served in the race.

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What did the FIA say regarding Carlos Sainz's withdrawn penalty?

After Williams' right to review, the FIA released a statement and explained why they tracked back on Carlos Sainz's Dutch GP penalty. Sharing their explanation, here's what the F1 governing body stated:

Carlos Sainz of Williams Racing runs during the qualifying of the Italian GP - Source: Getty Images

"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."

Carlos Sainz arrived at Williams as he had to make way for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari at the end of last year. He joined Alex Albon to race for the Grove-based team under the guidance of James Vowles.

Currently, he is in P18 in the Drivers' Championship with 16 points, whereas his teammate, Alex Albon, is in P7 with 70 points, after 16 races and three Sprints. Williams are in P5 in the Constructors' Championship with 86 points.