F1: Sainz Jr and Kvyat escape penalties after Spanish GP clash

Kvyat and Sainz were battling over ninth place on the rundown to Turn 1 on the final lap when they clashed as Kvyat fought to defend the position.

The Russian made three moves, the final of which caused contact, while Sainz ran wide at the first corner before rejoining in front at Turn 3.

"The first two moves were not defensive and only the third move was defensive," the stewards said in a statement.

"The stewards agree with the assertions of the drivers and team representatives that this was a racing incident.

"The stewards...accept the evidence of the driver [Sainz] that he slowed in rejoining the track at Turn 2 and gave room at Turn 3, in order to avoid gaining a lasting advantage."

Kvyat also admitted that he slowed at Turn 2 to leave room for Sainz to rejoin the track.

Speaking about the incident before the decision was made, Red Bull boss Christian Horner said: "I thought it was good racing, it looked like a racing incident down into Turn 1.

"It's two youngsters going for it. We're not going to lose too much time over ninth or 10^th place.

"The problem for Daniil was he lost a lot of time behind Grosjean and then getting lapped put Carlos Jr in the DRS and he was a bit of a sitting duck then."