Carlos Sainz accepted his responsibility in an incident with his Williams teammate Alex Albon during the Dutch Grand Prix of Formula 1, which cost him a ten-second penalty. This incident occurred just four laps from the end of the race, while Sainz was defending his position in Zandvoort.
In a defensive maneuver, Sainz locked up the front wheels when entering turn 1, causing his car to go off track and lightly collide with Albon, damaging the floor of his vehicle. This forced Albon to make an additional pit stop.
“It was a fair penalty,” Sainz acknowledged. “I was surprised when I tried to defend myself. I had the tires in very bad condition and struggled with the race pace. When I hit the brake, I locked up and took Alex with me, which is the worst possible thing for this race, as we weren’t fighting for anything important.”
At that moment, both Williams drivers occupied the last positions, 15th and 16th, in a less competitive car. Therefore, Albon did not give too much importance to the incident. “It’s not like a crash between Verstappen and Ricciardo, it’s less serious than that. It was his mistake. I saw him blocking and tried to follow his line, but we collided and my floor was damaged,” he explained.
Albon expressed his frustration over what he considered a missed opportunity for Williams, which had not scored points in over two months. “The biggest frustration is the race itself, as we were in a good position. We were able to be in front of Fernando Alonso for much of the race, but maybe we pitted too early,” Albon added.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
