Sainz Attributes Brazil Point Loss to Lap 1 Damage and Pit Stop Issues
Carlos Sainz believes he lost points for Williams at the São Paulo Grand Prix due to a double blow: early race contact with Lewis Hamilton causing front-wing damage, followed by a slow pit stop. Despite a compromised car, Sainz fought hard but ultimately finished just outside the top 10. He now looks to Las Vegas, hoping the circuit's characteristics will favor Williams and stressing the team's need to address underlying car weaknesses.
Carlos Sainz believes Williams could have scored points at the São Paulo Grand Prix had it not been for a series of misfortunes, starting with front-wing damage on the opening lap and compounded by a slow pit stop. The incident in Turn 1, involving contact with Lewis Hamilton, left his FW47 with compromised aerodynamics, impacting his race balance and downforce throughout.
Why it matters:
Sainz's assessment highlights the razor-thin margins in Formula 1, where a single incident can derail a promising race. For Williams, consistently on the cusp of the points, these missed opportunities are crucial as they aim to solidify their position in the Constructors' Championship. Understanding and mitigating such setbacks are vital for their future competitiveness.
The details:
- Lap 1 Incident: A bottleneck into Turn 1 resulted in contact between Sainz and Lewis Hamilton, causing significant damage to the front wing of Sainz's FW47. He reported being "squeezed" by Hamilton.
- Aerodynamic Impact: The front-wing damage led to a considerable loss of downforce, making the car difficult to balance and compromising its overall performance for the remainder of the race.
- Strategic Setback: A slow pit stop by the Williams crew further hindered Sainz's progress, eliminating any chance of an effective undercut strategy and keeping him outside the top 10.
- Decision Not to Replace Wing: Williams opted against replacing the damaged front wing during the race due to the excessive time loss it would incur. The team tried to compensate by adjusting flaps.
- Near Miss: Despite the handicaps, Sainz remained in contention, hovering around P11 and P12, ultimately finishing just a few seconds outside the points.
What's next:
Sainz and Williams are now looking ahead to the Las Vegas Grand Prix with cautious optimism. The unique characteristics of the street circuit, with its medium-speed corners, are expected to suit the FW47 better than the high-speed demands of Interlagos. However, Sainz emphasized the need for the team to address underlying weaknesses in handling long, medium, and low-speed corners, which have consistently compromised their performance.
- Sainz believes that circuits where other cars struggled in Brazil might thrive in Vegas, and vice versa.
- He stressed the importance of the team collaboratively working to resolve these recurring issues to prevent similar disappointments in the remaining races of the season.