The Spaniard had been handed a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points for causing a collision with Racing Bulls\u2019 Liam Lawson at Turn 1 during a safety car restart on August 31.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
At the time, the stewards deemed Sainz at fault for attempting to overtake around the outside. Calling the decision \u201ca complete joke,\u201d Sainz voiced his frustration immediately after the race.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Following a virtual hearing on Friday, however, the stewards admitted a \"significant and relevant new element\" had emerged, which was not available to Williams at the time of the original decision.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The officials explained: \u201cThe Stewards are satisfied that the collision was caused by a momentary loss of control by Car 30 (Lawson). However, in the Stewards\u2019 assessment, no driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for that collision.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
They further clarified that while Sainz\u2019s manoeuvre was risky, it was not the trigger for the contact: \u201cSainz had contributed to the incident with a risky move that ultimately could have seen him run out of track, or collide, had the coming together not happened when it did.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Williams presented three new pieces of evidence \u2014 360-degree camera footage from Sainz\u2019s car, Lawson\u2019s rear-facing camera feed, and Sainz\u2019s own account of the incident, which could only be heard after the penalty was imposed. Crucially, the rear camera on Lawson\u2019s car showed that \u201cthe momentary loss of control by the New Zealander resulted in Car 30 colliding with Car 55, not the other way around.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
They further clarified that while Sainz\u2019s manoeuvre was risky, it was not the trigger for the contact: \u201cSainz had contributed to the incident with a risky move that ultimately could have seen him run out of track, or collide, had the coming together not happened when it did.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Concluding their review, the officials declared: \u201cThe decision having been rescinded, it follows that the two penalty points imposed on the driver of Car 55 (Sainz) are to be removed.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n