Carlos Sainz had to manage power unit temperature in troubled F1 Spanish GP, where he was left disappointed to miss out on home race points.
The 2025 edition of F1 Spanish GP was the first race where Sainz failed to score in his home event in Barcelona. It co-incided with his first outing with Williams in his home race on a circuit which usually doesn’t suit the Grove-based car, whose last points result in Barcelona happened in 2016.
The qualifying result already set them behind, but opening lap dramas only compounded their issue in a close midfield. Both Alexander Albon and Sainz suffered front wing damage in the opening stint, which resulted in lengthy pit stops. This set them back in the standings, way behind in the quest of Top 10.
On top of it, Sainz also had to manage the power unit temperature. His teammate Albon retired due to damage, while Mercedes were forced to retire Andrea Kimi Antonelli due to a problem. This made the Spaniard’s run a tad more difficult, as they didn’t wish to suffer a power unit issue.
It was disappointing for Sainz too, since this ended his regular points finish in Barcelona. “Yeah, chaos at the start as expected from starting there [the position I was in],” he said to media. “There was front wing damage for both cars, then long pit stop, and we were out of the points contention really. Then everytime we were within two seconds of the car in front, we were having to manage PU temperate, so it is one of those days where nothing seems to go your way.
“The few laps we had in clean air, the pace was encouraging as like the points finishers or better, but I was too late and too far back to get to any kind of contention, so disappointing but at the same time, I feel like in Canada we should be back on the pace, and back in fighting for more or less where we are. It is true but at the same it is my home grand prix and not scoring in my home grand prix is disappointing.
“It shows that as a team we have a lot learning on a track like Barcelona, where to set-up the car, how to make it work on a track like this, so yeah, plenty to focus on, plenty to work around, we will go back and do due diligence on what we could do better but at the same time I am sure that as soon as I out this car in Canada, it would be a different picture,” summed up Sainz.
Here’s Alexander Albon on Spanish GP
