Williams Chief Engineer Points To Carlos Sainz’s ‘Unfamiliarity’ With The Car for Unusual Melbourne Crash

Williams chief engineer Dave Robson has shed light on Carlos Sainz‘s unusual crash during the opening lap of the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, calling out the Spaniard’s “unfamiliarity” with the FW47 F1 car in the wet.

Robson highlighted that Sainz spun out in the safety car mode after upshifting, calling it a wet-specific thing limited to the Williams F1 car. Considering Sainz’s Williams debut last weekend, Robson pointed out that the Spaniard was new to the car and its settings, and the lack of a wet practice run before the season opener added to the challenges. He told the media in Shanghai, ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix:

“I think it’s quite a wet-specific thing. Some of it was, you know, unfamiliarity, for Carlos. How our engine and gearbox react to do what he’s used to under the safety car so it would have been nice to have done some wet running with him before, before a really important session, but there’s not much we can do about that.

“So yeah, he will know how our car reacts in those conditions next time that we can make.”

Williams team principal James Vowles pointed out the problem in a video on X, explaining the precise reason for Sainz’s Melbourne crash. He said:

“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.

“When he did so, and what happens inside those conditions is, A, we’re in a different mode. It’s a safety car mode. That runs the systems in a very different way to if we’re in flat out. And B, what happens is, obviously, as you 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.

“I think, for me, it was accumulation of conditions.

“First and foremost, I think what we have to review is how and what we’re doing with those settings in that safety car mode in wet conditions.

“I don’t think we were optimal, and that’s on us as a team. 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 had 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.”

The sprint race on Saturday will mark Sainz’s first race with Williams in dry conditions, followed by the Grand Prix on Sunday.