"For me a 12th is like retirement": Carlos Sainz taking zero consolation as Charles Leclerc incident ruins his race

Carlos Sainz believes that finishing 12th at the British GP felt no different from a retirement. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, after the race, the Williams driver was visibly disappointed after a collision with Charles Leclerc cost him a potential points finish.

Sainz was running in seventh place when Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari in the damp conditions around Lap 41 and made contact with him. The incident demoted the Spaniard to 12th, ending his hopes of scoring in Silverstone. Unlike the Austrian GP, where the 30-year-old couldn’t even start due to technical issues, this time he was at least able to complete a full race distance, though with little reward.

Reflecting on the outcome, Carlos Sainz insisted that a P12 result was ‘as good as a retirement’ given the circumstances. He acknowledged that other drivers like Nico Hülkenberg and Lance Stroll benefited from better strategy calls. However, he felt that Williams had executed a strong race, with the right decisions and pace to bring home points, until the Leclerc incident.

Now looking ahead to the two-week summer break, the former Ferrari driver admitted that the 2025 season has been far from ideal. Sainz hopes the upcoming Belgian GP marks a true restart to his campaign and brings with it a much-needed shift in fortune.

Asked by Sportskeeda if the current result was more relieving than previous results where he had retirements, Carlos Sainz replied:

“No. I've had a very disappointing result P12 when I was running P7 ten laps ago.”

Asked if it was better compared to his result in Austria, he replied:

“No, no for me at 12 it's like retiring in the position we are. It feels like a retirement, especially because we were running P7 and P8; we had done everything right. Yes, maybe the others took a bit more gambles on the strategy calls. And maybe they will look into what Nico did, and Stroll, I think, did a couple of also good calls, maybe. But we did very solid race with management of the pace and the race. So we're in the ideal position to score a top seven top eight result. And suddenly, I am fighting with Charles. He lost control of the car and took me out. So it's what it is; it's nothing we can do, but I welcome this two-week break to see if something changes in my luck so we can start having an F1 season. Because this has been everything but good so far..” added Carlos Sainz

---

Carlos Sainz laments his poor luck during the 2025 British GP and his clash with Charles Leclerc

Carlos Sainz felt that his disappointing result at the British GP echoed a recurring theme of his 2025 season—strong performances undone by factors beyond his control. The Williams driver explained that Charles Leclerc, who was on slick tires during his outlap, lost control and made contact with him, costing him a valuable points finish.

While Sainz held no grudge against his former Ferrari teammate, he acknowledged that the incident was entirely out of his hands. He described it as particularly frustrating given that he had enjoyed a clean race and a smooth weekend up until that moment. The Spaniard admitted that such setbacks have become a frustrating pattern this season, with external circumstances repeatedly derailing what could have been strong results.

Asked to describe his race overall, Carlos Sainz said:

“It was going well, a bit like the whole year so far. We were doing everything right: good strategy goals, good driving, P7, P8 at the time, 10 laps to go. When I was fighting with Charles, I think he was on his out lap on the slicks. He lost control of the car and crashed into me. I went back to P-12 with a damaged car, and I finished P-12, so again, very unlikely. I've been fed up with this situation where always something happens to us that is out of our control. No offense to Charles, this always can happen to any driver, but just upset with the fact that it happened to me today again when we were about to have a clean weekend and a clean race. I compared two previous weekends of where you've had a clean weekend and a clean race.”, said Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz has currently scored 13 points in the 2025 season, while his teammate Alex Albon has contributed 46 points. Williams sits fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with a total of 59 points but is under increasing pressure from Sauber, who has closed the gap to 41 points following Nico Hulkenberg’s recent podium.

Sainz, a Grand Prix winner, has endured a challenging season, with two retirements in Australia and Bahrain and a DNS (Did Not Start) in Austria. Additionally, he has finished outside the top 10 in three other races. His best result so far this year has been an eighth-place finish. Williams, as a team, has also struggled with consistency, with a total of six retirements. The Austrian GP proved to be their weakest weekend yet, marked by a double retirement and their lowest points haul of the season.