Carlos Sainz: Formula 1 needs permanent stewards

      Last week the FIA held hearings at Williams' request into the case of Carlos Sainz, who was penalised in Zandvoort for a collision with Liam Lawson. During the hearings the stewards acknowledged that they should not have penalised Carlos and that the incident should have been treated as a racing incident.

      In Baku the Williams driver commented on the decision and said that Formula 1 needs permanent, salaried stewards to avoid mistaken decisions in the future.

      Carlos Sainz: "Formula 1 and the FIA agree that appointing permanent stewards should be the next step. At least two of the three stewards should be permanent, and the third should be rotated regularly for training and to gain experience.

      Such a decision should be taken in the name of sporting fairness. We should not be worried about who will pay for it, because there is enough money in the sport to pay stewards' salaries. It's the right way to go, and I find it hard to believe we have to be talking about salaries in this context.

      Permanent stewards will definitely help improve the situation. If I know that the stewards are the same at every race, then through years of interaction with them I will understand how they assess a particular incident. But when different stewards are at races, it's very hard to know whether an action will be penalised or not.

      After Zandvoort I was very upset about the penalty situation because I was convinced I was right, and we were open to discussion. We had a good talk with the stewards, and they admitted they may have misinterpreted the incident. The fact that the penalty points were cancelled is a good sign."