Carlos Sainz’s controversial Dutch Grand Prix penalty for colliding with Liam Lawson has been rescinded following an appeal from Williams.

Sainz was given a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points at the race in Zandvoort at the end of August for making contact with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson when battling for the points.

Both drivers received punctures and Sainz was stunned when told about the penalty, labelling it as a “complete joke” after the race, which he finished 13th.

Williams confirmed on September 4, four days after the Dutch Grand Prix, that they were challenging Sainz’s penalty with the intention of eradicating the two penalty points Sainz was given.

Representatives from Williams and Racing Bulls met the Zandvoort stewards on Friday in a virtual hearing, with the FIA confirming on Saturday that a decision had been taken to rescind the initial ruling.

While nothing can be done about the time penalty Sainz served during the racing, the two penalty points that were applied to his super licence have been removed.

Williams satisfied the requirement to provide a new, significant element that was not available to the stewards at the time of their original decision, by providing footage from a 360-degree camera on Sainz’s car.

The stewards accepted Williams’ claim that the collision was a racing incident rather than having been caused by Sainz.

The decision read: “The Stewards are satisfied that the collision was caused by a momentary loss of control by Car 30 (Lawson).

“However, in the Stewards’ assessment, no driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for that collision. Car 55 contributed to the incident by taking the risk to drive close to, and on the outside of, Car 30 when Car 55 had no right to room there and there was a real possibility that, if the collision had not occurred where it did, Car 55 would run out of track at the exit and/or a collision would have occurred at the exit for which the Driver of Car 55 would likely be predominantly if not wholly to blame.”

Shortly after the decision was confirmed, Williams released a statement of their own expressing both gratefulness and frustration at the process.

The statement said: “We are grateful to the stewards for reviewing Carlos’ Zandvoort penalty and are pleased they have now decided he was not at fault, and that this was a racing incident.

“While it is frustrating that our race was compromised by the original decision, mistakes are part of motor racing and we will continue to work constructively with the FIA to improve stewarding processes and review the racing rules for the future.”

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