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Williams Racing driver Carlos Sainz faced a huge issue at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix formation lap, leading him to retire from the race. This comes a day after Sainz faced technical problems during qualifying that led him to start P19.
The Spaniard couldn’t get his FW47 going in the formation lap as he reported being unable to slot his car into first gear. The yellow flags were waved as he struggled to start his lap.
Eventually, he finished the formation lap and entered the pit lane only to find his rear brakes on fire. The Williams crew put the fire out but declared on the radio that his race was over.
Joe Portlock/Getty Images
Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok said about the incident:
“That is such a deflating moment for the drivers. I had that a couple times in my career.
“You do all your pre-race prep then something goes wrong. It’s like a massive balloon that just goes pop, not just for Sainz but all of the engineers.”
With daytime temperatures soaring at the Red Bull Ring, Fernando Alonso, who starts in 11th place, reported some discomfort during the second race restart. He said:
“I cannot tell you the temperature of the seat. It’s maybe, I don’t know, 200 degrees.”
The incident follows Sainz’s challenges the previous day in qualifying, where he reported on the team radio that the car was “undriveable.”