Carlos Sainz takes a stand and points fingers at Oscar Piastri for the unfortunate lap one collision that led to the retirement of both drivers during the F1 Belgian Grand Prix.
The incident occurred as Ferrari’s Sainz and McLaren’s Piastri clashed at the first corner on the opening lap of Sunday’s race at Spa-Francorchamps, resulting in significant damage that forced them out of the competition.
Carlos Sainz, starting from fourth position, made a bold move to challenge Lewis Hamilton into Turn 1. Unfortunately, he faced a lock-up situation, resulting in a collision with Piastri, who found himself squeezed into further contact with the inside wall.
In the aftermath of the incident, the Spanish driver openly criticized Piastri, referring to the manoeuvre as an optimistic move.
The Spaniard speaking post-race explained: “I was on the attack with Lewis into Turn 1 and I think I pretty much had the move done and then I received a bit of contact on my rear-right.”
“If you want my honest opinion, I think it was a bit of a mistake by Oscar trying to go through side-by-side into [Turn] 1.
In a candid revelation, Carlos Sainz further discussed his thoughts on the incident, attributing the rookie driver’s daring move to overtake to a lack of experience.
“If you look at the last seven, eight years, everyone who has tried that move, it’s never really worked and has generated a bit of a crash when you look at the past races.
“So yeah, I don’t know if it was a bit of a lack of experience, a bit optimistic, but again a racing incident that cost us a race.”
“I didn’t miss the apex or anything, I went to attack Lewis and Oscar went to attack Lewis and me which I think in my opinion was a bit optimistic.”
