Challenges but also learnings for Carlos Sainz at the Dutch GP

Sunday, 23 August 2026:

- Race: P16, 70 laps

• Carlos Sainz finished sixteenth in the Dutch GP, where the lack of pace of his car prevented him from joining the fight for the points.
• Starting from sixteenth on the grid, the Williams race driver didn’t follow the most popular strategy (two-stops) and instead opted to focus on tyre management to cover the entire race with a single pit stop.
• The Spanish driver ran in ninth place in one point, but was back to fourteenth after his stop. His worn tyres didn’t allow him to match the rhythm of the cars running around him.
• Towards the end of the race, Carlos touched his teammate when he locked the tyres going into the first corner. Carlos received a time penalty, which he served in the race, meaning that he is now penalty-free for the upcoming Italian GP.

QUOTES:

“First of all, sorry to Alex and the team for the contact at the end of the race. I had very worn hard tyres and braked over the bump in turn 1, locked up and couldn’t stop the car in time. It was obviously the last thing I wanted to end an already tough weekend. Again, apologies to him and the team".

"Overall, we struggled to get into a good rhythm throughout the weekend and had to run a number of tests to explore the issues we were having, which put us on the backfoot and meant we weren't able to fight for any more today. The positive is that we've found some solutions and have good learnings to take forward to the upcoming races, so we'll look to come back stronger in Monza".

COMING UP:

Italian GP, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza – 4-6 September 2026