Carlos Sainz Blames Tsunoda's "Lack of Control" for DNF in Bahrain

Nelson Espinal | Apr 13, 2025

[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] March 16, 2025; Melbourne, AUSTRALIA; Carlos Sainz Jr. during the F1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Mark Peterson/Reuters via Imagn Images / Mark Peterson/Reuters via Imagn Images

Carlos Sainz blamed Yuki Tsunoda's "lack of control" for the crash, leading to the Spanish driver being disqualified from the race.

Sainz qualified in an impressive P8, beating his teammate for the first time this season and appearing ready to secure a decent handful of points.

As the race neared its conclusion, Sainz was engaged in a battle with Tsunoda when their two cars collided, resulting in a large hole in the sidepod of the Williams.

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Sainz was then forced to retire, having already lost some positions due to the pace of the cars behind, and any chance of scoring points ended after his crash into Tsunoda.

“He did lose the car fighting with me, and that cost me the race,” Sainz told the media.

“At the same time, when I look at the onboard, [it is] kind of racing incident also."

A frustrating end to a promising race for both drivers.

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— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) April 13, 2025

“So it cost me my race, a bit of a lack of control from him. But at the same time, if I was Yuki and you lose a bit the car in the middle of a fight, you would understand why you don’t want a penalty."

“So bit of a tough one but this time, it cost me. Got the wrong side of the coin and it is what it is.”

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While the result wasn't entirely to his liking, he recognized that he made progress overall.

“Just the Alpine was too quick for us this weekend and when you have the top eight cars plus the two Alpines, that’s the top 10 positions, and I was there between P11, P10, fighting for my life," Sainz said.

Not the result we wanted after a promising start to the season.

We’ll regroup and come back fighting in Jeddah to close out the triple-header.#DrivenByMyprotein @Myprotein pic.twitter.com/6PsU8zLqOD

— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) April 13, 2025

“But, we were just not quite quick enough.

“A lot to learn from. We’re in the right trajectory. Just the weekends will come a bit more together, hopefully.

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“And at the same time, we have this little bit to improve on the car to see if we can catch Gastly and Doohan with the Alpine because this weekend, they seem to be in the other league more than in our league.”

Sainz will look to bounce back in Jeddah, a track where overtaking is significantly more difficult and could allow him to hold onto a good qualifying performance.