FIA confirm date and time of blockbuster F1 hearing as team kick off over penalty
The FIA stewards who served at the Dutch Grand Prix have been recalled to consider a right of review request from Williams over a penalty given to Carlos Sainz
The FIA has officially announced the date and time for Williams' appeal to be reviewed by the Formula 1 stewards. The team has triggered right of review proceedings following the sanction issued to Carlos Sainz at the Dutch Grand Prix last month.
Sainz was incensed at Zandvoort after being ruled responsible for making contact with Liam Lawson during the race. He was hit with a 10-second penalty and had two penalty points added to his super licence as a consequence. The Spaniard challenged the ruling immediately over team radio and later visited the stewards post-race to discuss the matter. At the Italian Grand Prix the following weekend, confirmation came that Williams had formally requested a right of review session.
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The FIA has stated the hearing will take place on Friday, September 12, at 2:30pm UK time. The delay is due to the need for the Zandvoort stewards to reconvene, with the meeting being conducted remotely via video call.
Williams cannot have the time penalty reversed, as Sainz already served it during a pit stop, meaning it was not applied to his final race time. What the team is aiming to remove, however, are the two penalty points attached to his licence.
Team principal James Vowles explained he wanted "a straightforward conversation" with the officials, "so we all know how to go racing in the future." He added: "If this is deemed this is how we go racing, then at least we have clarity over that."
Historically, right of review requests are rarely successful. Of the last 13 applications lodged since 2019, 10 have been rejected by the FIA.
As usual in these scenarios, the hearing will be split into two phases. Initially, Williams' representative must present evidence to the stewards of a "significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the party seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned".
The second phase will only proceed if the stewards agree such an element exists. Should that happen, Racing Bulls will also be represented to argue Lawson's side.
Williams currently sit fifth in the constructors' standings with 86 points. Racing Bulls, meanwhile, are in seventh on 61 points, just one behind Aston Martin.
Sainz has endured a tough start to life at Williams, having joined the team this year following his departure from Ferrari. He's 18th in the Drivers' Championship after amassing just 16 points, with his best performance of the season being two eighth-place finishes in Saudi Arabia and at Imola.
Lawson, meanwhile, is three places above Sainz in 15th, though is just four points ahead of the Spaniard. The Kiwi began the season as Max Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate, but was relegated to Racing Bulls after a difficult start to the campaign.
