Untelevised team radio footage from the Dutch Grand Prix has revealed the moment Liam Lawson took exception to Carlos Sainz sarcastically giving him the thumbs up after their clash at Turn 1.
It comes after the Williams driver described his 10-second penalty for causing a collision as a “complete joke.”
Carlos Sainz gave ‘thumbs up’ to Liam Lawson after Dutch Grand Prix collision
Lawson and Sainz collided at the first corner after a mid-race Safety Car restart, with both suffering punctures in the incident.
Sainz was found to be at fault for the contact and was hit with a 10-second time penalty, as well as two penalty points on his FIA Super Licence.
The Williams driver was heard complaining about the decision over team radio, describing the stewards’ verdict as “the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in my life.”
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Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after the race, Sainz vowed to use his role as a GPDA director to improve what he described as an “unacceptable level of stewarding.”
Sainz and Lawson were forced to drive almost an entire lap at reduced speed after suffering their punctures, with both falling a lap behind at that stage of the race.
Untelevised footage has since uncovered the moment Lawson was heard taking exception to Sainz making a gesture from his cockpit.
Lawson is heard saying after the initial incident: “I have a puncture, mate.”
His race engineer, Mattia Spini, replies: “Yeah, puncture, I can see. Let’s try to bring it back.”
Spini later confirms to Lawson that Sainz has been given a penalty, commenting: “Sainz, 10 seconds, time penalty.”
Lawson replies: “Yeah. Mate, the guy’s giving me the thumbs up like it’s my fault. It’s my f**cking corner.”
Lawson and Sainz, who went on to finish 12th and 13th respectively, traded verbal blows after the race with the Williams driver accusing his rival of consistently being too aggressive in defence.
The Spaniard told media including PlanetF1.com: “First of all, the incident, I think, is quite clear.
“How many examples we’ve seen in Turn 1 in some order of two cars racing side by side without contact?
“It’s a corner that allows two cars to race each other without really having to have any unnecessary contact.
“But with Liam, it always seems to be very difficult to make that happen.
“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.
“Hopefully it will come with more experience to him, because he knows he’s putting too many points on the line just for an unnecessary manoeuvre like he did.
“But on top of that, to then get that 10-second penalty for it, I think it’s a complete joke.”
More on Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson from PlanetF1.com
Lawson, meanwhile, argued in response that the fact that Sainz was penalised was proof that the Williams driver was the guilty party.
Yet he hinted that the real problem lies with F1’s Driving Standard Guidelines, which were updated late last season after two notable incidents involving Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the United States Grand Prix.
The guidelines were only made publicly available ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix in June.
Lawson told media including PlanetF1.com: “He was overtaking me today and I also think he got a penalty today, 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.
“But if it was my fault, I would have got a penalty.
“I understand his frustration. We don’t want to be in these situations and I’ve been on the receiving end as well.
“It’s just the way the rules are written and we all know that.
“I’m not stoked either. It ruined my day.
“The rules are written as they are and we know how they’re written.
“I’ve been on the receiving end this year as well, where I was going for an overtake and thought that I should be given space, and I wasn’t, and I got a penalty.
“So it’s something that we learn from. It’s lap one on a restart.
“It’s super slippery, cold tyres and it’s fine to go for the move, but it’s just risky.
“In the end, we made contact, which was not ideal, but that’s why he got a penalty.”
Sainz and Lawson were previously involved in a skirmish at last year’s Mexico City Grand Prix, where Sainz called for the Racing Bulls driver to be penalised for failing to respect blue flags with the then-Ferrari star en route to his fourth career victory.
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