A debut to forget for Carlos Sainz with Williams: spin and crash under Safety Car in Australia. A season opener to forget for former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz in Australia.

Out immediately
Amid the chaos of the opening laps of the season, with rain and a wet track affecting the start of the Australian GP, Carlos Sainz also fell victim—unexpectedly—during his first race with Williams.

The Spaniard made the same mistake as rookies Isack Hadjar and Jack Doohan, spinning out on his own in the very early moments of the race. What makes it even more surprising is that the former Ferrari driver—whose experience is far greater than that of the two rookies—crashed into the wall under Safety Car conditions. At that moment, the race had just been neutralized due to the off-track incident involving the Alpine driver.

“Power spike”
Carlos Sainz, who had immediately made it into Q3 in qualifying but was then beaten by Alex Albon in the internal Williams battle, was understandably distraught over the radio. Speaking to his race engineer right after hitting the barriers, he reported experiencing a “power spike” from the engine as he approached the final corner, suggesting that this may have caused his mistake. Certainly not the start to 2025 he had hoped for after his unexpected departure from Ferrari.