James Vowles questions FIA verdict after Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson clash

Williams team chief James Vowles follows the Dutch Grand Prix with his traditional debrief

Williams team principal James Vowles has commented on Carlos Sainz's disappointing performance at the Dutch Grand Prix, describing the team's weekend as "bittersweet". Defending his driver, he argued that the clash with Liam Lawson that earned the Spaniard with a 10-second penalty was a "racing incident" at best.

Speaking on the Williams YouTube channel, the team chief praised Alex Albon for his fifth-place finish.

"Well done to Alex. His opening lap was fantastic to get himself up behind Carlos and then take opportunities as they came. Well done to the pitcrew. The pitstops were on point. The strategy was strong today and the engineering of the car allowed us to move forward relative to the field."

Sainz's race was more of a sore subject for the Briton after the driver collided with Lawson on a safety car restart on lap 27. Sainz attempted to pass the Kiwi at Turn 1, but contact between the two punctured both cars' tyres. The resulting 10-second penalty threw Sainz out of the points.

"Carlos - I'm disappointed for him. He has the pace, but the incident today wasn't one I feel he should have merited that 10-second penalty for. At best, it was a racing incident, but it meant that he was pushed outside the points at a weekend again where he's really done everything right to earn and score," Vowles said.

The FIA stewards ruled that Sainz was "wholly or predominantly to blame for the collision", something that both Vowles and his driver strongly disagree with. Sainz labelled it a "complete joke" as his team-mate agreed that Lawson should have been found at fault.

James Vowles, Team Principal of Williams

Photo by: Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 / Getty Images

Despite that, Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar was more than worthy of celebration after he achieved his first career podium.

"Well done to VCARB. They did a strong qualifying yesterday and deserved that podium," Vowles continued, referring to Hadjar's third-place finish. "But it's a reminder to us that as strong as we do, we have been outscored this weekend by VCARB, and Aston scored the same amount as us."

Williams, sitting in fifth in the constructors' standings with 80 points, 18 ahead of Aston Martin, needs to continue to utilise its weekends.

"We're on to Monza next and I'm looking forward to it. I think Monza and Baku, but I think really from this point onwards in the season, we've got a car that's competitive and it's very close in that midfield. Our job in all of this is to make sure we outscore our rivals to hold on to that fifth-place to the end of the season."