Lawson critical of Sainz for deciding to 'mouth off' about incident

Lawson on Sainz incident: “It ruined my race”

There were many big consequences from last weekend’s Dutch GP, the first race after the summer break.

Aside from the title race, the biggest development from Zandvoort concerned the Red Bull driver pool.

Isack Hadjar, courtesy of his podium finish, massively boosted his market value.

Although Red Bull are still evaluating Tsunoda ahead of 2026, the Frenchman is now in a very strong position.

Whilst Hadjar insists that he doesn’t want a mid-season move, he sees a 2026 promotion in a different light.

Amidst this conversation, Liam Lawson lost out.

Not only did the Kiwi miss out on points in Zandvoort, but his teammate’s value has sky-rocketed.

This comes after a run of races where Lawson was consistently scoring ahead of Hadjar in the build-up to the summer break.

To make matters worse for Lawson, Williams want his incident with Carlos Sainz reviewed.

Both Williams and Sainz have been vocal about their opposition to the decision.

Speaking to the media in Monza, Lawson voiced his disapproval for the 31-year-old’s reaction:

“It’s lap one on a restart. We have cold, hard tyres. We’re all on new tyres after the safety car.

“It’s a naturally difficult corner. We’re all coming in there on lap one. He’s the car going for the overtake around the outside, and he didn’t get his axle where he needed to get it.

“Somehow, I’m deemed as being aggressive, so I don’t really understand it.

“It ruined my race. We were in a position to potentially have two cars in the top five.

“But I didn’t go on the radio and mouth off to everybody about it, or to the media.

“It was his approach after that race, I don’t know why he was so upset.

“But he was the car overtaking, and got a penalty for it.”

A chance to reset in Monza

For various reasons, Lawson will look to put last weekend firmly behind him.

He cannot afford to finish behind teammate Isack Hadjar again this weekend, else the narrative about the 20-year-old’s superiority will solidify.

It will be especially important for Lawson to deliver in the event that, like in Zandvoort, Tsunoda scores points and begins generating some momentum.

Realistically, a return to Red Bull is extremely unlikely for Lawson.

Drivers that have been demoted from Red Bull in the past (Kvyat, Gasly) never made their way back.

What is possible, however, is for Lawson to stay in F1 and establish himself as a good benchmark to measure younger talent against.

Ironically, he could take the role that Gasly (2020-22) and Tsunoda (2023-24) previously played.

In any case, the Racing Bulls driver will be optimistic the VCARB 02 is once again competitive this weekend.