How Sainz’s Miami F1 Team Radio Rage Mirror Hamilton’s Famous Fury
It’s somehow appropriate that
Carlos Sainz
and
Lewis Hamilton
Should have hit the wheels at the second-to-last turn during the final lap of the Miami Grand Prix, as they were also in a comparable position earlier.
Despite this, the length and fullness were notable.
Hamilton erupted at his team during their communication over the radio.
That Sainz’s comparable frustration received barely any attention back then.
“Clearly, if the radio informs me that I won’t face an attack and we will move forward together, then being surpassed becomes frustrating. As a driver, you always feel foolish and helpless,” the Spaniard stated to journalists afterward.
Since you’re taking on the role of the hero, just like I did when portraying the hero in Jeddah [where he stepped back to provide support].
Williams
team-mate
Alex Albon
the advantage of DRS to remain free from
Isack Hadjar
, and suddenly you’re passed by, looking utterly foolish.
Although the immediate cause of Sainz’s ire was Albon overtaking him when they had supposedly been ordered to hold positions, the roots went back to the previous day. There, owing to what Sainz described as “operational mistakes”, the team fitted his sole remaining set of new mediums during the chaotic wet-dry sprint race.
Sainz subsequently made them impossible to reuse by hitting the wall while pursuing.
Lance Stroll
‘S Aston Martin during the final moments of the race.
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Image courtesy of: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Therefore, even though Williams had their strongest qualifying session recently during the Miami event,
with Sainz qualifying sixth
and Albon seventh, the four-time grand prix winner was carrying inherent compromise into the race since Albon had one new set of mediums left for the start. This was exacerbated when Sainz accidentally clipped Albon’s right-rear just after the start, while swerving to avoid
Lando Norris
as the
McLaren
returned to the course at Bend 2.
Albon moved ahead, apparently damage-free – photos taken by the team during the Virtual Safety Car period later confirmed this – while Sainz suffered extensive damage to the left-hand floor edge of his car, incurring a significant downforce penalty.
Sainz’s engineer, Gaetan Jego, instructed him, “second car, remember our conversation from earlier today,” indicating an agreed-upon strategy to maintain position following the initial lap. However, Albon faced difficulties once the Virtual Safety Car period concluded, allowing Sainz to overtake him using DRS entering Turn 11 on Lap Five.
After getting near enough to
George Russell
– Struggling with the challenging hard-compound Pirelli tires, he decided to voice concerns over Albon’s movements during braking. With Albon closing in quickly behind him, Sainz felt distracted. Believing that fending off his teammate was hampering his efforts against Russell, Sainz requested a team instruction to maintain positions between himself and Albon.
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photo credit: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Let’s move ahead, everyone,” he said over the radio. “We’re falling behind in this race. Let’s find our groove.
While Albon was hinting to his engineer, James Urwin, about wanting Sainz to move aside without directly stating it, he asked: “What’s our strategy here? We’re just wasting time.”
During Lap 14, Urwin told Albon, “We’re handling a water pressure problem with your vehicle; ensure you keep at least one-second distance from the car in front,” right when Albon was overtaking Sainz using DRS entering Turn 11. Just prior, Jego had relayed to Sainz, “Alex has received instructions.”
Therefore, Sainz promptly objected: “You informed me that he had been notified.”
“Let’s choose to be the better person here, okay?” was Jego’s last response following more grumbling from his driver.
There was additional tension between Sainz and the team when Carlos believed they instructed him to fall back too significantly after he inadvertently cut the chicane while trying to defend his position.
Charles Leclerc
’s
Ferrari
On Lap 16, Sainz eased up right away afterward, but then he was instructed to reduce his time by an additional three-tenths – which he believed wasn’t needed.
Alex Albon, Williams
Photo by: Williams
He felt disheartened after dropping positions to Leclerc and Hamilton following the last Virtual Safety Car phase, which might explain his bold effort to overtake Hamilton near the race conclusion. It’s not surprising that tensions remained high when Albon secured fifth place while Sainz finished ninth.
I understand we aimed to — and hoped to — conclude stronger, but that was indeed a solid race,” stated Jego. “There’s plenty to learn from this experience. Several points worth discussing.
That’s not my style when racing, everyone,” retorted Sainz. “I couldn’t be less concerned. I’ve lost a great deal of confidence in all aspects here.
This led to a ‘Carlos, it’s James’ intervention from team principal James Vowles: “Yes Carlos, understood.”
We’ll talk about this inside the room, but I concur with your view; we must engage properly on this matter. In the meantime, great job for highlighting those key points. There was some damage to the vehicle—we will go over that—but well done for salvaging as much as you could.
Following the incident, Albon stated that he did not get the instruction to stay put until he had already started overtaking Sainz. However, this information may offer scant comfort since Williams’ decision to focus on developing their 2026 car ahead of schedule means they might have fewer chances to score points.
I genuinely think that with fresh tires and no damages to the vehicle, I could have contended for fifth place as well, considering where we started,” stated Sainz. “Therefore, it’s somewhat disappointing that we couldn’t capitalize on that speed over the course of the weekend—there were just too many operational mistakes, as mentioned.
We will review it to identify areas for improvement, as when we return with this competitive vehicle again, I aim to be the one making the most of it.
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