Williams like Ferrari in F1 Miami GP: Carlos Sainz lashes out at the team. Carlos Sainz criticizes Williams after a tense Miami GP.

During the Florida weekend, the Grove-based team showed strong performance. Nonetheless, Carlos Sainz was not satisfied with certain things that happened in Miami due to how the race was managed by Williams.

Car number 55 finished 15th in the Sprint Shootout and retired during the Sprint Race. The Spaniard bounced back for the rest of the weekend: he qualified sixth and finished ninth in the race, behind Lewis Hamilton.

Carlos Sainz’s complaints mainly concern Friday’s session: the Shootout qualifying. Number 55 was eliminated in SQ2, unable to do better than 15th. In interviews, Carlos Sainz explained that the team sent him out on a tyre compound that was meant to be used in the race.

Carlos Sainz and the team radio during the race
Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz started side by side in the Miami GP. The two managed to challenge Ferrari: the Thai driver finished ahead of both Ferraris, while the Spaniard attempted an overtake on Lewis Hamilton on the final lap.

Carlos Sainz was very harsh after the race. Speaking over team radio, he said: “Guys, this is not how I will race. I don’t care. I’ve lost a lot of trust in everything.” The team principal responded by asking him not to argue from the cockpit.

The controversy after the GP
In the team’s official statement, Carlos Sainz did not delve into the issue. He simply explained that he suffered damage at the start due to contact with Alex Albon, caused by avoiding Lando Norris. He added that the damage made the race difficult and didn’t help with an internal misunderstanding.

Once he reached the interview ring, however, Carlos Sainz went into more detail, clearly explaining what had happened and why he was angry with the team. “I’m the first to hold my hands up for the mistakes I made this weekend. On the other hand, I want to make sure the management errors that occurred are not allowed.”

“Today I had a team order, which I don’t know if it reached Alex. They had assured me he wouldn’t overtake me, but at the first opportunity he did. These are things that need to be addressed if we want to compete as a solid team with full trust between driver and pit wall. Otherwise, it’s very easy to lose confidence — and also a perfect execution, which wasn’t there today.”