Carlos Sainz reflects on a disappointing Mexican Grand Prix. The Spaniard was unable to finish his race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, after receiving two penalties from the stewards for repeatedly speeding in the pit lane. Sainz explains how a broken pit limiter led his race from bad to worse, although he hoped to avoid the late Virtual Safety Car due to his retirement in Mexico.
Carlos Sainz had been on a streak of strong results for Williams since the summer break, with the highlight being his first podium finish for the British team during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. However, since the race in Austin, the Spaniard’s luck has taken a turn for the worse. Sainz started his Mexican Grand Prix weekend already with a five-place grid penalty to his name. The Madrid-born driver received the penalty for a collision with Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the opening stages of the United States Grand Prix. As a result, Sainz started the race in Mexico City in twelfth place, where he once again did not make it through the opening corners without damage.
Broken Pit Limiter
The Williams driver sustained damage from the collision with Liam Lawson. “It was a race full of problems, probably influenced by the contact at the start,” Sainz later told the media present. According to the Spaniard, the eventual collision with Lawson was due to the chaotic first meters of the race. “I think I damaged my rim then, which caused my first set of tires, my rim sensor, my tire speed sensors, and my pit limiter to stop working.”
As a result, the Madrid-born driver drove too fast in the pit lane during his first pit stop, earning him a five-second time penalty. “From that moment on, even if we were to get a five-second penalty at the first pit stop, we could still score points,” said Sainz. “But then we had to make a second pit stop. We had problems with the pit limiter again.” The Madrid-born driver drove too fast in the pit lane during the second pit stop, for which he received a drive-through penalty. “It’s a shame, because I was really fast. Even with a less good strategy, less good tires, and a less good car. There were too many problems.”
Virtual Safety Car
In the end, Sainz couldn’t even finish his Mexican Grand Prix. During the Spaniard’s hunt for Lance Stroll for fourteenth place, overheated tires and a spin prematurely ended the Williams driver’s race. “I drove my car into the barrier to avoid a safety car or VSC. I think I did the safest thing I could do,” said Sainz. However, the FIA still demanded a Virtual Safety Car, preventing Max Verstappen from making an attack on Charles Leclerc for second place.
