Carlos Sainz got a very unusual penalty after the British Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz got a very unusual penalty after the British Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz didn’t have the best day driving the Williams at the British Grand Prix, finishing in 12th place. Things got worse after the race when the FIA gave him a rare penalty, which dropped him down to 17th.

Sainz had to watch his old Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, celebrate on the podium after winning at Silverstone. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, who took Sainz’s spot at Ferrari, finished third. George Russell, driving for Mercedes, took second place, boosting his hopes in the championship. His main rival, Kimi Antonelli, ended up 15th.

The race was exciting but had a disappointing finish under the safety car. There was some confusion on the last lap — many thought there would be a final showdown as the safety car seemed ready to leave the track. Lapped cars even passed the safety car when the message “Safety Car In This Lap” appeared, but the safety car stayed out. Later, the FIA said this message was sent by mistake due to a software error.

Amid all this confusion, it turned out that Sainz overtook the safety car without permission. As a result, he received a one-lap penalty.

The FIA stewards explained their decision: they reviewed all the data and videos and found that because of Silverstone’s track layout, Sainz briefly unlapped himself, so he wasn’t allowed to pass the safety car when the message said lapped cars could overtake. After his pit stop, he was again considered a lapped car. The team admitted they made two mistakes: not realizing Sainz wasn’t a lapped car at the right moment and not noticing he wasn’t on the list of cars allowed to pass the safety car.

The team acknowledged that this gave Sainz an unfair advantage. The stewards decided a one-lap penalty was the right punishment under the FIA rules.