Williams right of review hearing date for Carlos Sainz penalty set

A date has been set for Williams’ right of review hearing into Carlos Sainz’s penalty at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Team representatives from both Williams and Racing Bulls have been summoned for a virtual hearing with the FIA stewards on Friday 12 September to discuss Sainz’s 10-second time penalty for his clash with Liam Lawson at Turn 1 during the race at Zandvoort.

The hearing will take place in two parts. Should Williams’ right of review be deemed admissible in the first part, a second hearing will be held to judge the incident itself.

Williams must present new evidence that was not available to the stewards at the time of the original investigation for the right of review to proceed further.

An FIA summons read: ”The team representative is required to report to the Stewards on Friday 12th September 2025, at 15:30 CEST in relation to the above.

"The hearing will be held virtually via video conference, details of which will be provided by separate communication.

"It should be noted that this Hearing will be held in two parts. The first part will be to hear evidence and submissions from the petitioner as to whether there is a 'significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the party seeking the Review at the time of the Decision concerned’.

"Should the Stewards determine, in accordance with Article 14.3 of the FIA International Sporting Code, that such an element exists, a second part of the Hearing will be convened at a time to be advised, in all likelihood shortly after the first part of the Hearing. Any other 'concerned party' may seek the permission of the Stewards to appear."

What are Williams trying to change?

Williams confirmed they had lodged the right of review request ahead of last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

While the penalty itself cannot be overturned due to it being served during the race, Williams want to reverse the two penalty points Sainz picked up on his superlicence.

Williams are also seeking clarification over F1’s racing rules, with a statement at the time saying: "We can confirm we have submitted a right of review to the FIA relating to Carlos' penalty in Zandvoort. It is important for us to understand how to go racing in future, and we are hopeful of a positive outcome.”

Sainz, who finished 13th at Zandvoort, declared the penalty a “complete joke” at the time.

"It was very clear to me that as soon as they got all the evidence right and they looked at the places they needed to take the right decision, it was clear to me that I think they realised probably the decision taken wasn't the best one," Sainz said at Monza.

"Now we are trying to see if we can come up with enough evidence to change the outcome of the penalty, because I still firmly believe it was a very poor penalty I received and a bad judgment, which can happen as long as you have the capacity to revisit it.

"If there's been a misunderstanding or a lack of evidence or analysis, then there is still time to re-analyse it, reopen it, and change it. I do believe they had a very difficult Sunday looking back at it. They had a very busy afternoon, and maybe it was overwhelming because of the amount of stuff that happened in the race.

"But I still firmly believe what I thought after the race. Now in a cooler-headed state, I still believe the penalty was not acceptable, and I made it very clear."