Carlos Sainz: The McLaren driver had a Sunday to forget as a power unit failure meant he could not start the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.
After Nico Hulkenberg at Silverstone earlier this year, it was McLaren’s Carlos Sainz who suffered a power unit failure before the start of the race. An exhaust failure meant Sainz could not complete more than a lap at Spa for the second year running. A power unit failure proved to be his demise last season too.
Earlier on Saturday, he had qualified in P7 for the race today. As a result, that slot on the grid was left vacant, with Red Bull’s Alexander Albon in P6 and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez’s Racing Point in P8. Sainz spoke during the race of his disappointment of not starting at Spa, his favorite race track in the calendar.
“On the second lap to the grid I started smelling something not quite right on my car. And I started hearing that the exhaust had broken.”
“I went into the pits and then we found out that’s it’s actually a PU issue that generated an exhaust blow-out. Second consecutive year that I’m not even able to start the race at Spa, my favourite track. So you can imagine I’m not happy.”
Ferrari causing double-trouble for Carlos Sainz
Sainz’s MCL35 was doing its formation lap when he was asked on radio to head back to the pits. He knew what was coming, and was seen dejected all throughout as he watched the race from the team garage.
The dejected look and mood was heightened by Ferrari’s performance, his employers next season. All the 6 Ferrari-powered cars – including Haas and Alfa Romeo – were in the bottom half at the time of writing. Definitely a race not to remember for Sainz, in context of this season or next.
