Carlos Sainz arrived at the Dutch GP with his debut season at Williams not going as he had planned. The Spaniard currently sits in P17 in the standings, having scored just 16 points all season. Before the race in Zandvoort, his teammate Alex Albon had 54 points and sat eighth in the championship.
Despite a poor run of form, which has not seen him score since Canada, Sainz managed to put his Williams into Q3 in the Netherlands. The race was going for Sainz and was battling with Lawson for eighth place. However, after the safety car caused by Lewis Hamilton’s crash, Sainz and Lawson clashed, leaving both drivers with punctures.
The stewards investigated the collision during the race and deemed Carlos was at fault. The Spaniard was awarded a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points on his licence. Sainz managed to recover to thirteenth after serving his penalty. Carlos was not only angry with the stewards’ decision but also with Liam Lawson’s defending.
Carlos Sainz has his say on his Dutch GP penalty
Carlos Sainz was surprised over the team radio when Williams told him that he was penalised. He was questioning why he was the driver in trouble, and told his team over the radio, “Make sure we go visit the stewards after the race. I want to have a talk with them.”
Sainz was also angry about Liam Lawson’s driving, which he believes instigated the contact. After the race, he didn’t hold back, telling F1TV, “Today was very difficult because first of all, I suffered an incident that cost me another 10 points in the championship when I was executing one of my best weekends of the year. That’s frustration number one.
Sainz is NOT happy with his 10-second penalty… pic.twitter.com/kawSZHilMX
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) August 31, 2025
“Frustration number two is racing a guy that is not the first time that we see him expose himself to having an incident with another driver, just to make sure there’s not even a side-by-side action or a side-by-side movement.
“I’ve raced multiple, multiple guys around this track in turn one and multiple quality guys that allow for a side-by-side movement like that in a beautiful corner like in Zandvoort turn one.”
This result leaves Sainz on a four-race pointless streak. The positive was that he made it into Q3 for only the second time since Imola. The pace was in the car, which he can take forward to Monza next week.
Carlos Sainz’s poor start to his Williams career
Carlos Sainz joined Williams after being turfed out of Ferrari to accommodate Lewis Hamilton’s arrival. The Spaniard had a good opening start to life in Oxfordshire, scoring five of his opening eight races. However, since finishing tenth in Monaco, he has only scored in Canada and the Belgian sprint race.
One of the main reasons for Sainz’s poor run is his qualifying pace. He has only managed to make it into Q3 twice in the last eight races. This has left him with a mountain to climb to score points.
However, during the races, not all the results have been his fault. At the Austrian GP, Carlos had an issue with his FW47 before the race, which meant he retired during the grand prix. In Silverstone, Sainz was on for a points-scoring finish until Charles Leclerc hit him.
Carlos Sainz Opens up on the Hidden Struggles of Switching Teams in F1
The Belgian GP saw Sainz score in the sprint race. However, the team made setup changes which failed to improve the car. This meant Sainz had to start from the pit lane. A slow stop also hampered his progress.
Overall, Sainz’s start to his Williams career has not gone to plan. Alex Albon is ahead in the head-to-head qualifying statistics, while the Thai driver has 48 more points than the Spaniard. Sainz needs some good fortune and must deliver points to kick-start his time in Grove.
