Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson both unhappy following clash that ended hopes of potential points finish.

As far as the stewards were concerned, the Spaniard was attempting to overtake the RB on the outside of Turn 1 following the second restart. The front axle of the Williams was not ahead of the front axle of Lawson's car at the apex and as Sainz attempted to stay on the outside a collision occurred.

The stewards considered Lawson had the right to the corner and therefore Sainz was wholly or predominantly to blame for the collision, consequently, as is standard for a clash of this nature, and as prescribed under the guidelines, they imposed a 10 second time penalty.

It was bad enough that both drivers had to pit due to the damage incurred, emerging in 18th (Sainz) and 19th respectively, but when told of the penalty the Spaniard was far from impressed.

"Who? Who gets a penalty? Me?" he responded. "You are joking. You are joking. It is the most ridiculous decision of my life."

He subsequently told the team to raise the matter with the stewards after the race, in which he finished 15th, one place behind the Kiwi.

"First of all, the incident is quite clear, no, how many examples we've seen Turn 1 Zandvoort of two corners racing side by side without contact," he told reporters at race end. "It allows cars to race each other without having unnecessary contact, but with Liam it always seems to be very difficult to make that happen.

"He prefers 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, which hopefully 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 a 10-second penalty for it, I think it's a complete joke.

"I need to go to the stewards just to get an explanation to see what is their point of view, because it's unacceptable," he insisted. "I think it's not the level of the stewards in Formula 1 if they are really considering that to be a 10-second penalty on my behalf. I think it's a serious matter now that concerns me as a driver, as a GPA director and something that I will make sure I raise."

"Obviously, I'm not stoked either," said Lawson in reaction to the Spaniard's comments. "It ruined my day.

"The rules are written as they are," he continued, "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. I wasn't and I got a penalty.

"So it's something that we learn from. We know we all know this. 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 and we make contact, which is not ideal, but that's why he got a penalty.

"He was overtaking me today and he got a penalty today," said the New Zealander, in reaction to Sainz's claims. "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.

"If it was my fault, I would have got a penalty," he added. "I understand his frustration. We don't want to be in these situations. As I said, I've been on the receiving end as well. It's just the way the rules are written, and we all know that."

"The nature of this track allows for two cars to go side by side," insisted Sainz. "It's not a 90-degree corner where you very quickly run out of road. It's a flowing 180-degree super wide grip on the inside.

"There's grip on the outside. You can perfectly... I've raced Lewis, I've raced Checo, I've raced Oscar, I've raced Charles," he continued. "I've raced so many drivers doing the move I did today. So many other cars in the last four years at the start racing around inside, outside. High banking, low banking without really having contact.

"If the guy in the inside doesn't want to have contact. If the guy in the inside decides to open the wheel and create a contact or risk a contact, then it's on their behalf. But to them, the guy on the outside receiving a penalty for it is what concerns me the most."

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