Carlos Sainz could hardly hide his frustration after yet another case of misfortune at the 2025 British Grand Prix, with the Williams driver labelling his 12th-place finish as “like a retirement.”
Despite showing solid race pace and battling inside the top eight, Sainz saw his day unravel after a late incident with Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc at Silverstone. The Spaniard’s string of setbacks with his new team has left him wondering what it will take to catch a break.
For much of the race, Sainz looked set to reverse a difficult run for Williams, staying in the mix for valuable points as the weather produced unpredictable challenges for the grid.
However, the story turned sour in the closing laps. Leclerc, recently out of the pits on slick tyres, lost control at Stowe and slid directly into Sainz, damaging the Williams and dropping Sainz out of the points. With his front wing and floor compromised, he struggled home in twelfth, his frustration boiling over in the aftermath.
“It was going well,” Sainz told the press, including Total-Motorsport.com, when describing the lead up to the collision. “I feel like the whole year so far we were doing everything right. The strategy goals, good driving. P7, P8 at the time.
“Ten laps to go when I was fighting with Charles. I think he was on his out-lap on the slicks. He lost control of the car and crashed into me. And that was it. I went back to P12 with a damaged car. Again, very unlucky.”
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Frustration Mounts After Yet Another Missed Opportunity
The Silverstone result marked the latest in a series of misfortunes that have hampered Sainz’s debut campaign with Williams. The team, once a points-scoring regular earlier in the season, has recently been plagued by reliability woes and race incidents, including Sainz’s non-start at the Austrian GP due to a fire in his rear brakes.
Sainz, now 15th in the standings, has collected only one point in his last four races—a run that starkly contrasts with teammate Alex Albon, who remains inside the championship’s top ten. Sainz made it clear that the nature of his setbacks is wearing him down, especially when strong results slip away through no fault of his own.
“A bit fed up with this situation where always something happens to us that is out of our control,” Sainz said. “No offence to Charles, this always can happen to any driver. Just upset with the fact that it happened to me again when we were about to have a clean weekend and a clean race.”
Asked whether twelfth felt like a small step forward after Williams’ recent struggles, Sainz shook his head: “No, for me at P12 it’s like retiring. In the position we are, it feels like a retirement, especially because we were running P7, P8. We had done everything right. But with Charles, he lost control of the car and took me out. It’s what it is. There’s nothing we can do.”
He also revealed his surprise that the pivotal incident was not broadcast or replayed during the race, noting, “I don’t think it was on TV. They told me it wasn’t. We were fighting into Turn 15, I think he lost the car in 15, and he went in the gravel. It was there when I was on his left and crashed into me. I was overtaking him, back on the slicks. That’s why I’m surprised they didn’t put it on the reviews.”
With the summer break looming, Sainz is desperate for a turnaround in fortunes. The Spaniard admits the run of bad luck is not only affecting his results but is mentally exhausting.
“Honestly, this is so frustrating to have so many things out of your control in a row,” Sainz said. “I cannot explain to you how you feel as an athlete when you keep going to a simulator, doing all your marketing events, putting on a happy face, doing all your free practice, doing everything you can to score a good result.
“In the race you take your risks, you do everything right with strategy calls and then something like this out of your control happens and you’re out. Now we need to wait another two weeks to go racing, but it gets to a point where it’s just extremely frustrating and depressing.”
Sainz will be hoping that after two weeks away from the circuit, he and Williams can return with renewed momentum and finally deliver on the promise that has too often gone unrewarded this season.
