Carlos Sainz and Ferrari will want to move on from the Canadian Grand Prix as quickly as possible. After the highs of Monaco, they failed to score a single point for the first time since March 2023.
Ferrari entered the weekend as the arguable favourites after Charles Leclerc won on home soil and Sainz came home third. But they struggled for pace and made a number of mistakes.
On Saturday, neither driver made it to Q3 after the team decided to use up their fresh tyres at the beginning of Q2. Ferrari had had at least one car in the top-10 shoot-out at every race since Belgium 2021.
Even when the rain led to chaos, neither driver could progress on Sunday. Leclerc was plagued by a power unit issue while Sainz was unable to make an impression in the thick of the midfield battle.
In the end, Ferrari decided to retire the former’s car. And the latter saw his hopes of points ended by a mistake at turn six.
Sainz lost control of his car at the apex of the corner and spun onto the grass. He kept his foot down as he tried to get back on track, but he ended up collecting the Williams of Alex Albon in the process.
Carlos Sainz apologises to Alex Albon amid Williams rumours
The crash involving Sainz and Albon wasn’t just significant because it potentially cost the latter some valuable points. The two drivers may well end up as teammates next year.
With Red Bull and Mercedes off the table, Sainz has been left choosing between Williams and Audi. He’s set to drop down the F1 grid after losing his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton.
F1 Oversteer understands that Grove will be his destination. In fact, James Vowles’ employees are 90% sure that the deal will happen.
Writing on his X account, Sainz acknowledged his error. He also offered an apology to Albon ahead of their potential partnership in 2025.
“A race to forget for the team,” he said. “The entire weekend has been on the edge for us. I tried to push in the DRS train to overtake and did a mistake on the kerb. Sorry to the team and to Albon. We now need to understand what happened here and move on.
Why Williams will find Sainz mistake ‘quite funny’
There are no concerns that Sainz’s blunder will hurt his chances of joining Williams. Vowles won’t pass up the chance to sign a three-time race-winner and an F1 A-lister over one mishap.
Instead, journalist Edd Straw suspects that Williams will find the coincidental nature of the collision ‘quite funny’. There could still be an announcement before his home race in Spain at the end of next week.
Analysing the incident, 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve questioned why Sainz released the brakes after his spin. He says that’s something you ‘never, ever do’ as a racing driver.
With Albon out through no fault of his own, Williams lost ground in the championship. Both Alpine drivers scored points, with Pierre Gasly ninth and Esteban Ocon 10th, and that gives them sole possession of eighth place behind Haas.
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