Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon are scratching their heads about Formula 1’s racing rules after Williams successfully challenged a steward’s decision.
“We are all, maybe unconsciously or consciously, putting a bit of pressure on the stewards to make decisions during the race,” Sainz admitted while talking to reporters.
The Spanish driver opened up about his confusion with how penalties are handled after his incident with Liam Lawson in the Netherlands led to a successful appeal.
“I don’t know how they approach each situation — whether they’re going to leave it for later or decide in the moment,” he said. “It’s fair to say there’s pressure from everyone to know the result right after the race finishes.”
No one wants to wait hours for a decision on what happened.
“You don’t want to be waiting two hours for a decision. I think we’re all pushing the stewards to make calls during the race rather than afterwards.”
Sainz believes having the same group of stewards for the entire season would make a huge difference.
“What would really help is having the same referee at every race,” he explained. “That way, over the years, you’d recognize a pattern and build experience with the same officials. You’d know whether they were going to judge an incident on the spot or not.”
The rotating panel of officials makes things unpredictable.
“When it’s different referees at every race, it becomes very difficult to know or understand if a penalty is coming.”
## Albon also ‘confused’ by racing guidelines
Albon didn’t hold back when asked about the same issue.
“I’m still confused. I still don’t really know how to properly race,” he admitted. “You can go a week later and still be confused, to be honest. I’m sure we’re going to have a long discussion about it tomorrow evening.”
Despite the frustration, he praised the FIA’s willingness to explain their thinking.
“What’s great is that the FIA is really giving us insight into their decisions, and we’re having good discussion topics about it. It’s not us versus them — it’s very collaborative.”
But the confusion persists.
“But still — and this is just me speaking — it’s hard to understand what’s allowed and what’s not.”
## Sainz gets penalty points back on his license
During the Dutch GP, Sainz and Lawson collided at Turn 1 when Sainz tried passing on the outside. Lawson’s Racing Bulls car lost grip slightly and hit the Williams, causing both cars to suffer punctures.
In a surprising call, stewards blamed Sainz, giving him a ten-second penalty and two points on his license.
Williams didn’t take this lying down. The British team filed an appeal days later, presenting new evidence that convinced the FIA to take another look.
The result? The two penalty points were removed from Sainz’s license, though the ten-second time penalty remained in place.
