What did Carlos Sainz do to be penalized one lap after the finish of the British Grand Prix?

Having received a full lap penalty a few hours after the British Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz actually created an unprecedented situation at Silverstone.

Twelfth in the British Grand Prix under normal circumstances, Carlos Sainz He was notably among the drivers for whom the blue flag was waved at the end of the race. Overtaken by Charles Leclerc – then leading the race – the Spaniard even caused a bit of a scare in the Monegasque driver's cockpit. Somewhat tight on the racing line, the driver Williams He eventually stepped aside, causing no further commotion afterwards.

However, the fact is that given the timing of the Safety Car's deployment, the teammate ofAlexander albon found himself in a very unfortunate trap. When the infamous Safety Car emerged from the pit box, the Spaniard quickly found himself right behind it. Deciding, like many drivers, to pit at that moment, the former... Team briefly crossed the Safety Car line from the pits (given the particularly short entry onto the Silverstone track).

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F1

• 14/07/2026
• 18:25

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In other words, the unfortunate situation that led to this detail is as follows. The FIA ​​radar detected that Carlos Sainz had indeed briefly overtaken the Safety Car, and the driver of car number 55 was subsequently prohibited from overtaking it again on the track, thus no longer being considered a lap downer. In reality, he was indeed listed among the drivers who were a lap down on Charles Leclerc. Thinking he was doing the right thing, the Spaniard naturally overtook the Safety Car to regain his position… ultimately earning him a full lap penalty at the finish.

Having qualified twelfth, Carlos Sainz was ultimately demoted to 17th. Despite this explanation, the FIA ​​doesn't seem to have been lenient towards him, and still applied a particularly harsh time penalty given the confusion described here. He's still far from catching up with teams like...Alpine, or even Racing Bulls to name just a couple, it still seems difficult to imagine Williams regularly fighting for points, unless Spa-Francorchamps gives us another surprise.