Carlos Sainz reflected on his incident with Charles Leclerc during the British Grand Prix. The Spanish driver saw his race hampered by his former teammate at the Silverstone circuit.
The Williams Racing driver, who was on course to score points at the British Grand Prix, saw his chances fade after Leclerc, who was looking to make an overtake with barely 10 laps left in the race, clattered into him. The collision resulted in front wing damage for Sainz and also damage to the front floor of his car.
With the damage to his FW47 challenger, Carlos Sainz slowly tumbled down the pecking order and could only manage a 12th-place finish at the rain-affected Grand Prix. Sharing his thoughts on the incident with the media following the conclusion of the race, the former Scuderia Ferrari driver expressed disappointment.
“I had a good race, keeping out of trouble, managing the tyres and had good pace. Unfortunately, towards the end and on slick tyres, I was about to overtake Charles, but he lost the car into Turn 15, came across the track and hit my front wing and front floor. We both went off, losing a lot of positions and I had a damaged car until the end of the race," said Sainz via a press release.
"It seems to be the story of my season so far, and it's very annoying that different issues continue to impact our weekends. I'm driving well and I know better days will come, but it’s frustrating at this point.”
Carlos Sainz, however, concluded with optimism as he looked ahead to the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix.
“I'm looking forward to the two-week reset and hopefully we can have a better second half of the season. Massive thanks to every Williams fan out there this weekend! Your support has been amazing! Thank you.”
The Spanish driver is currently enduring a torrid run of form following his switch to the Williams team. Carlos Sainz has scored just one point in his last four Grand Prix for the Grove-based outfit. The 30-year-old will now hope to return to the points when the Formula 1 paddock heads to Spa.
How Williams' Team Principal reacted to Carlos Sainz’s incident with Charles Leclerc
Williams Team Principal James Vowles also aired his thoughts on the incident involving Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc during the British Grand Prix. The 46-year-old reflected on his disappointment with the incident that denied his team a double points-scoring finish.
Sainz, who was lapping in the points, was barreled into by the Ferrari driver, who was aiming to fight his way back into the order. The collision with the Monegasque driver subsequently resulted in floor damage for Sainz, largely putting an end to his hopes of scoring points at the Silverstone circuit.
“...For Carlos, he did everything right, but it was out of his control when a Ferrari spun in front of him and he had to avoid it. It’s a tough reflection on today – I was hoping for more points,” reflecting on the incident, Vowles stated.
Sharing his thoughts on his team’s expectations heading into the next race on the Formula 1 calendar, he continued:
“Now we go to Spa, where we’ve got an update coming that should give us a bit of an edge and help us fight back in that very tight midfield battle. Spa, like Silverstone, has tended to suit our car in the past, so let’s reset and come back fighting. We have the pace to score points from here to the end of the year.”
Carlos Sainz had initially appeared to be finding his feet with the Williams Racing outfit. However, the Spaniard seems to have suffered a dip in form since his last points-scoring finish at the Canadian Grand Prix. Sainz will now shift his focus to the upcoming Belgian race as he aims to return to points-scoring form.