New audio and video 'evidence' contradicts Carlos Sanz's version of events leading up to his clash with Oscar Piastri.

Newly discovered onboard footage reveals the Williams driver passed seven blue trackside warning panels before the clash with the Australian in Turn 2.

Towards the end of Lap 37, the Spaniard passed three warning panels, and another two on the pit straight as he began Lap 38. Having passed another on the exit of Turn 1, the Williams passed another as he approached Turn 2.

In addition to this, as he headed into Turn 1, the Spaniard was told by his team: "Blue flag of Piastri!"

As Piastri closed on Sainz, who was battling Fernando Alonso for 14th, the Australian attempted to go around the outside of the Williams, but the Spaniard moved back on to the racing line and the two clashed.

"I had no idea Piastri was there," Sainz said post-race. "No idea. We didn't have blue lights on the steering wheel, which normally, when we are in fights like that one, where we are fighting for position, it helps us to understand whether we're getting lapped or not.

"So at this stage, I had no idea I was about to get lapped, and on top of that, I was in a big fight with Fernando, trying to undercut him into the corner, and I wouldn't have expected Oscar to be there. And even if he was there, he was in my dead spot on the angle, so it was impossible, honestly, from my side to avoid it. So better communication would have helped, but at the same time, it was a racing thing that sometimes happens."

There was indeed an issue with driver tracking during the race, which also affected the circuit's marshalling system, meaning that some drivers were forced to rely on flag marshals and team radio. Other drivers claimed there was no dashboard read-out, and if there was a read-out it didn't show which car was approaching.

Such was the confusion that the battling Racing Bulls were unaware of a fast approaching Max Verstappen who was seeking to put daylight between himself and Lewis Hamilton.

Losing time behind Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad as they battled for position, the Dutchman called them "morons" and asked for them to be penalised.

"It's not too difficult, because we have the virtual mirror so we know the car in front and behind, and we can see the gaps, and we have mirrors, which makes it a bit easier," said Lindblad, as he explained how he dealt with the confusion brought about by the system failure. "I think it's more for the cars that were coming through, that it was just a bit of a shame, maybe. It wasn't ideal.

"I remember at one point I was coming around on lap seven, and I saw blue flags for Checo, which, you know, is lap seven, so he can't be that far back. So I don't really know what was going on with the system. They never showed the numbers, they just showed a blue flag, which was not the most useful message, but the team helped me out, and I was looking at my deltas on the dash to try to get out of the way to try to not disturb the leaders' race as much."

Later in the race, running behind Hamilton, Lawson became aware of a fast-approching Verstappen, who went on to pass both cars in one bold move.

"I was just trying not to get in the way and be too much involved," said the kiwi. "I wasn't getting lapped, so I didn't have to let them go, but I didn't expect him to go by. Obviously, I saw the late lunge. It ended up costing me so much time behind them, which at the time was a bit stressful, but it was a good move. It was a very Max move."

In handing Sainz a 5s penalty, the stewards accepted that Piastri was in his blind spot and consequently didn't give the Spaniard the customary 10s penalty.

However, they stressed that he had been told that Piastri was approaching.

Adding insult to injury, the Spaniard, in taking to social media to give his side of the story, was community noted.

"I had a strong race, but there was an issue with the blue flag system," the Williams driver posted on X. "Oscar appeared in my blind spot when battling Fernando and we touched."

"The FIA stewards determined that the team informed Sainz of the blue flags for car 81 and held him fully responsible for the collision, applying a five-second penalty despite a mitigating factor of limited visibility," read the community note.

Widely criticised on social media, when asked, post-race, if he would apologise to Piastri, Sainz said: "No man, I don't need to talk, it's racing".

It is Carlos, but not as we know it... though definitely in keeping with F1 in this era of Drive to Survive.