The opening moments of the 2025 Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring were thrown into chaos as fire erupted from the Williams of Carlos Sainz with flames coming from the brakes before the race could even get underway.
As the field formed up for lights out, drama struck for the Spanish driver, who found himself stuck in first gear and motionless on the starting grid. Team radio captured the tension as Sainz was unable to get going, with the threat of an aborted start looming over the proceedings.
Moments later, the Williams mechanics were forced to touch the car, triggering regulations that required Sainz to head for the pit lane. But just as he reached the end of the pit lane, flames and fire suddenly burst from the rear brakes of Sainz’s Williams. The team rushed to extinguish the fire, and Sainz’s hopes of a clean race start vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Race Control was left with no choice but to declare an aborted start, giving Sainz a chance to rejoin the field, but with the grid in disarray and concerns over potential damage to his car.
On a short circuit like the Red Bull Ring, there was little time to resolve the drama. The aborted start meant the rest of the field returned to the grid, while Sainz was left to complete a solo lap, his Williams still under scrutiny for possible brake damage.
Sainz’s Fiery Past: Ferrari Flashbacks
For Carlos Sainz, fire at the Red Bull Ring is an all-too-familiar sight. Back in 2022, the Spaniard suffered a dramatic engine failure while racing for Ferrari, watching helplessly as his car erupted into flames while he was chasing down Max Verstappen for second place.
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After that harrowing escape, Sainz reflected, “There was no feedback coming from the engine that this was about to happen… I’m a bit lost for words because it’s obviously a big loss of points and a huge result for the team. I think it would have been an easy one-two today.”
That weekend, Sainz barely escaped his burning Ferrari, forced to jump clear as flames spread rapidly and the car rolled backwards on the escape road. The incident led him to call for a review of how marshals respond to such emergencies.
While the 2025 drama with Williams unfolded differently, the risk and unpredictability of F1 machinery at the Red Bull Ring clearly remain, and Sainz once again found himself at the center of a tense, fiery scene on race day
