Williams team principal James Vowles has shed further light on what caused Carlos Sainz Jnr to crash out on the first lap of the Australian Grand Prix.
The team’s new driver spun into a barrier at the final corner in the wet conditions shortly after the start of the race. The Safety Car had been deployed due to Jack Doohan’s crash moments earlier.Vowles said the combination of low-grip conditions and unexpected power delivery while the FW47 was in its Safety Car mode led to Sainz spinning.
“He was coming through the last corner, he was in second gear, he held a fairly constant throttle position – actually a tiny bit lower, a percent or two lower – and pulled for an upshift into third gear, so it’s a part throttle upshift,” said Vowles in a video released by the team.
“When he did so, what happens inside those conditions is we’re in a different mode, it’s a Safety Car mode, so that runs the systems in a very different way if we’re in flat out. And what happens is, as you would imagine, we have a disengagement of power and torque and then a re-engagement of power and torque.
“Now, there was a tiny bit more than would have been expected. For me, it was an accumulation of conditions.”
The team is looking into what changes it needs to make to prevent a repeat of the problem. “First and foremost, I think what we have to review is how and what we’re doing with those settings and that Safety Car mode in wet conditions,” said Vowles. “I don’t think we were optimum, and that’s on us as a team.
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“The second is that it was treacherous out there. I really can’t state that enough. When you’re going slowly, your tyre temperatures are being lost, any small amount of additional grip loss will be accentuated, and I think that’s what we have there.
“We’re still ongoing in terms of reviewing because clearly we need to make sure that we’re improving in every single area and providing a car to the drivers that’s predictable and consistent.”
After retiring from the race Sainz joined the team on the pit wall to help them react to the changing conditions with the remaining car driven by his team mate Alexander Albon, which led to him finishing a strong fifth. Vowles said the team was grateful for his input.
“What Carlos was doing was trying to provide as much information as possible, be that about car performance, the conditions, what was coming in on the weather radar,” said Vowles. “And his insight was fantastic. It was useful, it was clear.
“He actually said it was more nerve-wracking being up there on the pit wall, with the amount of information coming in, than driving around the car in those conditions, which I don’t believe for a second. But irrespective, it was still great to have him by our side.”
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Jere (@jerejj)
19th March 2025, 20:12
The extent to which he’s gone regarding what caused the car control loss is relatively & surprisingly detailed, especially compared to how much Sainz was willing to shed light on the sudden & unusual torque surge in the interview pen.
MikePrice
19th March 2025, 20:31
“The torque spike” didn’t happen because he lost the car and thus rear grip leading the wheels to effortlessly spin, at the last corner during the SC. It happened before and you must be convinced of that.
Jere (@jerejj)
19th March 2025, 20:40
That’s what I meant in case your post was supposed to be a reply to mine.
Sudden because it happened without any pre-signs or unexpectedly, etc.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
19th March 2025, 21:26
@jerejj Well, there were pre-conditions, but the cascade didn’t get stopped in time. (The cascade of water was not enough of an indicator due to other cascades).
MikePrice
20th March 2025, 1:53
I was being sarcastic. Vowles is quite the character, for better or worse. Crashing during SC is both embarassing and unsafe. Are they protecting themselves Sainz jnr or both? The Sainz have always been good at making up excuses.
S Arkazam
20th March 2025, 9:19
Be careful, posters here don’t like it when you call something ‘embarrassing’.
Maybe call it nerve-racking, or nerve-wracking; hard to hear the difference in German without the body language.
Coventry Climax
20th March 2025, 11:21
When you crash a car beyond repair, you’ve created a car fatality, a wreck, with an ‘e’.
When a situation is potentially ‘fatal’ for your nerves, it’s called nerve wrecking. With an ‘e’ and a ‘w’.
Still sounds the same though, you were right there alright. ;-)
S Arkazam
20th March 2025, 11:36
Or if it was a small blue* guy causing the car to crash, he might have said “it was smurf-wrecking”.
* hard to notice next to a blue car.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
19th March 2025, 21:03
This is a ridiculous effort to protect Sainz. He’s always been error prone.
Applebook
19th March 2025, 23:58
Sainz has spun off the same way before in the wet, and his spin was exactly the type of mistake that happens on a damp track under heavy acceleration through a slow-med corner. Rookie mistake, but apparently only Isack and Leclerc made mistakes on Sunday (since they were foolish enough to accept responsibility ). Everyone else was a victim of their cars, and Kimi’s spin didn’t happen either according to the PR from the teams.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
20th March 2025, 4:05
Particularly, he often crashed out in the wet, even early on in suzuka 2022, which caused the red flag in very interesting conditions.
MacLeod (@macleod)
20th March 2025, 8:08
@esploratore1 I think it’s more both protecting Sainz and a mode settings. Almost the same in Brasil 2024 means Sainz has to pratice a lot in the wet and different powermodes…. think about Albon crash before turn 1 Brasil 2024 you would think there is something in enginemapping when the rears encounter a amount of water and torgue.
So it’s both I think.
Patrick (@paeschli)
20th March 2025, 10:36
It certainly sounds better than
Coventry Climax
20th March 2025, 11:31
Even if you are right, it still makes perfect sense for a team to identify the weaknesses invloved and try to minimise them, in order to try and prevent a repeat.
So it definitely is not a ridiculous effort, but rather the opposite, a sensible one.
Completely in line with:
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
19th March 2025, 21:40
Sounds like a good opportunity taken to learn how his new team operates, making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
As long as he doesn’t come trudging back to the pit wall again – that’s what Williams are trying to get away from!
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
20th March 2025, 1:00
Albon has been waiting for this car, and he is going to drive the hell out of it. Sainz might just have to get out of the way ;)
Chris Horton
20th March 2025, 9:49
Alternative headline;
Junior employee desperate to make his name, agrees with toxic bullying boss.