Carlos Sainz’s 2025 Miami Grand Prix turned into a weekend of discontent, as the Williams driver publicly voiced his frustration over team orders and a series of operational issues that left him vulnerable in the race.
Despite starting a promising sixth on the grid in Miami, the Spaniard slipped to ninth by the chequered flag, trailing teammate Alex Albon, who finished fifth.
While the race-ending collision with Lewis Hamilton captured most of the attention, it was the breakdown in communication with his own pit wall that left Sainz seething.
He felt undermined by the team’s contradictory messages and race-day decisions, particularly surrounding tyre strategy and positional calls.
“Obviously, if I’m told on the radio that I’m not going to be attacked, that we’re going to push together,” Sainz explained to the press, including Total-Motorsport.com, post-race, “then to be overtaken, as a driver you always feel stupid, powerless.”
Tyre miscalculation and radio miscommunication
Sainz’s problems didn’t start on Sunday. During Saturday’s Sprint, Williams opted to use his final set of new medium tyres — a call that backfired after he clipped the wall while chasing Lance Stroll, rendering them unusable for the Grand Prix. Albon, by contrast, had a fresh set available for the start in Miami.
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At lights out, things went from bad to worse. As Lando Norris rejoined the track at Turn 2, Sainz swerved to avoid contact and clipped Albon’s rear-right tyre.
Though Albon escaped damage, Sainz’s car suffered a blow to the floor, significantly reducing downforce and race performance.
Despite being told before the race to “remember what we discussed this morning,” indicating a plan to hold positions, Sainz passed Albon on Lap 5 after the Virtual Safety Car ended.
He urged the team not to waste time battling: “Let’s go forward, guys. We’re compromising in the race here.”
On Lap 14, however, Albon was suddenly given the green light to overtake — just as Sainz had been told the opposite.
“You told me he’d been told,” Sainz said on the radio as Albon swept past at Turn 11 under DRS. Engineer Gaetan Jego urged him to “be the bigger one,” but the damage to Sainz’s trust was done.
The situation deteriorated further when Sainz was asked to back off more than expected after shortcutting the chicane while defending from Charles Leclerc, and again after he lost track position to Leclerc and Hamilton in the closing stages.
Feeling let down by Williams team orders, Sainz took a final lunge at Hamilton on the penultimate corner — an overtake that ended in contact.
“That’s not how I go racing, guys,” Sainz said in the closing moments of the race. “I don’t care. I’ve lost a lot of confidence here on everything.”
Team boss James Vowles responded: “Yeah Carlos, noted. We’ll discuss this in the room, but I agree with you we need proper engagement on it.”
Albon later confirmed he only received the instruction to hold position after he had already committed to the move.
While the message delay may explain the misstep, it did little to ease Sainz’s frustration. With Williams soon shifting focus to their 2026 car, internal harmony will be critical if they are to maximise the rest of this campaign.
