Carlos Sainz names the most ‘dangerous’ driver on the Formula 1 grid after ‘recent incidents’

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Carlos Sainz is, based on penalty points, one of the cleanest drivers on the Formula 1 grid. He’s picked up just two across the last 12 months.

There are four drivers who still have clean records – Sauber duo Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar. George Russell only has one penalty point.

Sainz is in the next group alongside seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton went 51 races without a penalty point before he was sanctioned for speeding under yellow flags at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Haas rookie Oliver Bearman currently tops the list, with his 10 points leaving him precariously close to the race-ban threshold (12). World champion Max Verstappen is second on nine.

Carlos Sainz calls Liam Lawson the most dangerous driver in F1 right now

Sainz recently received two points for a collision with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson at Zandvoort. The turn one clash, which left both drivers with punctures, also cost the Spaniard 10 seconds of race time.

Williams exercised their right of review and were successful in getting the points wiped. There was a belated recognition that this was a racing incident.

Lawson ranks third in the penalty points table behind Bearman and Verstappen. He’s been deemed responsible for four collisions in the past year, and was Sainz’s pick for the most dangerous driver on the grid in a round of quickfire questions from El Partidazo de COPE.

“Given the recent incidents, I would say Lawson,” he said.

Asked to name the ‘rudest’ driver in F1, he ducked the question: “It’s hard to say. Spare me. It’s a commitment for me, I’ll run into him at the drivers’ briefing!”

The incidents that have given Liam Lawson his penalty points

The table below details Lawson’s four offences in the past year. Two of them came at the very same race in Bahrain.

Sainz’s compatriot Fernando Alonso was notably critical of Lawson after their Miami run-in, accusing him of ‘ruining’ his race with the kind of move ‘you can’t’ expect to work.

Lawson crashed twice of his own accord at the Singapore GP last weekend, raising further doubts over his F1 future. The 23-year-old has developed a reputation as an aggressive driver since he broke into F1 full-time in the autumn of last year.

Lawson infuriated Alonso and Sergio Perez, the driver he’d briefly replace at Red Bull, in his first few appearances. Helmut Marko will welcome a feisty approach, but only to the point that it doesn’t damage a driver’s race.