F1 star stung by late FIA penalty in bizarre ruling at British Grand Prix

Photo: © IMAGO

British Grand Prix

F1 star stung by late FIA penalty in bizarre ruling at British Grand Prix

It demoted Sainz down the order, although did not affect the points-paying positions

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 6 July 2026 19:42

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Williams F1 star Carlos Sainz was handed a rare penalty after the race for a controversial incident that occurred at the end of the British Grand Prix.

Once again, the Williams outfit suffered a disastrous weekend at Silverstone, failing to pick up a single point despite there being more available than usual via the sprint and main race during the British GP weekend.

Sainz and Alex Albon finished 17th and 18th respectively in the sprint, before Albon wasn't even able to finish the main race after more problems with his FW48.

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Spaniard Sainz, however, did manage to cross the line up in 12th during the main race, as the British GP disappointingly finished behind the safety car.

That safety car was caused by a late crash from four-time world champion Max Verstappen, as he went off into the gravel at Stowe corner, right in front of the 16,000 fans packing out the Landostand.

And the resulting safety car landed Sainz in hot water with FIA race stewards, demoting him in the final classification.

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Sainz's safety car infringement

After the race, it was announced that Sainz was under investigation by the stewards for a safety car infringement, and replays appeared to show the Spaniard getting confused when lapped cars were allowed to overtake the pace-setting Mercedes AMG.

Sainz had unlapped himself just before lap 49, the lap on which the safety car had picked up the front of the pack. The unusual pit exit at Silverstone caused some confusion for Sainz, as he was lapped just before he went into the pits.

The temporary unlapping at the pit exit meant that he should not be considered a 'lapped car', yet when the lapped cars were told to overtake the safety car, Sainz did so, despite the car numbers of all lapped cars that could overtake being shown on the drivers' steering wheel.

FIA race stewards came down on him like a tonne of bricks, after Williams' team representative admitted to having made two errors in the process of telling Sainz to overtake the safety car. Sainz was handed a whole one-lap penalty.

That huge penalty was made even worse by the fact that the field was bunched due to the race finishing under the safety car, and Sainz was demoted in the order from P12 all the way down to P17.

Despite handing him such a huge penalty, the stewards revealed in a statement that they understood somewhat the misdemeanour, given the confusion caused by the track layout.

"The stewards noted that, after completing its pit stop, Car 55 once again was a lapped car when it re-joined the track," they said. "Given the exceptional track layout at this event, the Stewards understand how the sequence of events may have contributed to the team's confusion.

"The team representative acknowledged that the team nevertheless made two errors: firstly, by failing to recognise that car 55 was not a lapped car at the relevant reference point under Article B5.13.4 c), and secondly, by failing to note that car 55 was not included in the race control message identifying the cars permitted to overtake the safety car.

"The team representative accepted that they inadvertently gained a lap when they were not entitled to do so."

BRITISH GRAND PRIX: Final classification after Silverstone drama

F1 FIA Carlos Sainz Williams British Grand Prix