Williams driver Carlos Sainz has opened up on the real reason for spinning out unexpectedly in his FW47 F1 car and crashing into the barriers in Australia.
Sainz crashed in the opening lap of the race at Albert Park Circuit, marking a disastrous end to his Williams debut. Despite the setback, Sainz then assisted the team in forming strategies that contributed to his teammate Alex Albon’s P5 finish.
As Formula One arrives in Shanghai for the weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, the Spaniard referenced a video posted by Williams on X, where team principal James Vowles explains what caused Sainz to lose control of his car and crash. The team boss said:
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“He was coming through the last corner. He was in second gear. He held a fairly constant throttle position, actually a tiny bit lower, a percent or two lower, and pulled for an upshift into third gear. So, it’s a part throttle upshift.
“When he did so, and what happens inside those conditions is, A, we’re in a different mode. It’s a safety car mode. That runs the systems in a very different way to if we’re in flat out. And B, what happens is, obviously, as you imagine, we have a disengagement of power and torque, and then a re-engagement of power and torque. Now, there was a tiny bit more than would have been expected.
“I think, for me, it was accumulation of conditions.
“First and foremost, I think what we have to review is how and what we’re doing with those settings in that safety car mode in wet conditions.
“I don’t think we were optimal, and that’s on us as a team. The second is that it was treacherous out there. I really can’t state that enough.
“When you’re going slowly, your tyre temperatures are being lost. Any small amount of additional grip loss will be accentuated, and I think that’s what we had there.
“We’re still ongoing in terms of reviewing, because clearly we need to make sure that we’re improving in every single area and providing a car to the drivers that’s predictable and consistent.”
James gives insight into how Carlos’ race came to a premature end in Melbourne last weekend.
Watch the full Vowles Verdict episode now ⬇️
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) March 19, 2025
When Sainz was asked if he found anything in the data that explained the crash in Australia. He said:
“Yeah, well, as you could see, I was disappointed after the race, but very quickly as soon as I opened the laptop and I went a bit through what happened, I think concluded very quickly what was going on, what happened at the time.”
Pointing to Vowles’ explanation of what triggered the crash, Sainz stressed how quickly a good weekend can change to a bad one. He added:
“Also JV I think explained it today well in a social media video.
“I think he, he posted out a few hours ago, but for me the general feeling about it is, it just shows you know how quickly a good weekend can turn out to a bad one in this sport when this kind of the last 1-5% things so that you don’t know about a Formula One car that you’re driving in.”
Fortunately for all F1 teams, the Chinese Grand Prix is forecasted to be cool and sunny, offering the first proper opportunity to test their 2025 cars in dry race conditions.