Carlos Sainz fights with a damaged car in the Belgian GP

Sunday, 19 July 2026:
- Race: P16, 44 laps

• Carlos Sainz was supposed to start the Belgian GP from fourteenth place, but an issue on his battery led to a penalty. He filled the nineteenth spot on the Starting Grid.
• The Spanish driver started well and passed two cars, but suffered damage on his front wing and the floor of his car after an incident with Esteban Ocon.
• The Williams race driver was seventeenth after his pit-stop, in which he fitted a new front wing.
• In the second part of the race, he displayed a great race pace that enabled him to overtake several cars and close over 10 seconds to his teammate.

QUOTES:
“It was a race of two halves today. We had to start P19 after a penalty due to changing the ESME and got some damage to the front wing in the first lap when everyone bunched up into turn 1. Changing the front wing cost us additional time, but with the new wing, the car was in a much better place, and I had good pace until the end of the race, overtaking some rivals and closing the gap to the cars ahead".

"Ultimately, we extracted everything we could from the car. While we know the gap is increasing to the midfield and our upgrades coming won’t completely fill this, we’ve got some good learnings we can take forward. On to Hungary".

COMING UP:
Hungarian GP, Hungaroring – 24-26 July 2026