Sainz reveals severe reliability issues at his home race
Having failed to scored any points at his home race in Barcelona, Williams driver Carlos Sainz stated that battled through a series of technical issues in Spain which contributed to the disappointing result on home soil.
Williams had arrived at Barcelona with low expectations as they had expected their FW47 to struggle on a circuit which traditionally exposes their cars in recent years.
The qualifying session saw Carlos Sainz get knocked out in Q1 while his team-mate Alexander Albon failed to progress into the final segment. The race then turned out to be a tough afternoon for Williams.
Albon had contact at the start and was forced wide. The Thai driver did not only lose several places, but he was also forced to pit for a new front wing. He had a further contact later on as he collided with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.
The incident resulted in another front wing damage for Albon and he was also handed a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. After serving his penalty, he elected to retire from the race.
His team-mate also had contact on the first lap which led to front wing damage. With his damage having been a smaller one, Sainz refused to pit for a new wing, but he lost performance as a result of it.
Although he finished the race, he failed to score any points at his home race where he has always finished in the points since the start of his F1 career.
Reflecting on his race, Sainz stated that battled through a series of technical issues in Spain which contributed to the disappointing result on home soil.
“It was a tough race for me and the team. We picked up front wing damage on the first lap, which made us lose a lot of race time, and struggled with engine overheating when following cars.
Signing off with a word for the support from his fans, Sainz said: “In clean air the pace looked better but overall, the weekend hasn’t been very positive, as expected. I want to thank all the fans for their incredible support the entire week and hopefully we’ll be back to better form in Canada.”
