Carlos Sainz wants answers from Williams over qualifying DSQ at Zandvoort

Carlos Sainz said it would be “important” for him to get information on Alex Albon’s qualifying disqualification at Zandvoort on Saturday.

Albon had qualified eighth on Saturday, but technical checks on his car showed that the floor body fell “outside the regulatory volume” prescribed by the FIA by a matter of millimetres, which meant he was eventually disqualified from the session.

Carlos Sainz seeks answers following Williams’ disqualification in Zandvoort qualifying

Albon fell to the back of the grid as a result of this decision. With technical regulations being cut and dried in Formula 1, the Williams driver tweeted that he was “gutted” when the verdict came through.

With Sainz joining the team next season, he will be looking to hit the ground running when he becomes a Williams driver – and while he is not on the payroll yet, the Spanish driver will look to find out what happened with his future employers.

When asked if he would get information on Albon’s disqualification, he told DAZN : “I’ll find out, yes, I’ll ask and I’m sure I’ll find out. [It’s] important.”

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For his current team, however, Sainz admitted his Ferrari is a “different car” in race trim compared to qualifying, having fallen out in the Q2 stage on Saturday.

He recovered to finish fifth on Sunday at Zandvoort, but he ended the weekend “very happy” with how his car performed on high fuel.

“No, honestly no,” Sainz responded when asked if he was expecting Ferrari’s pace on Sunday.

“Yesterday I was quite upset with the way things were going this weekend and maybe a little bit in a negative mindset with the way things were going and the gap to the front runners in qualifying.

“It’s clear that this car is a different car in the race. We were able to go on the attack and come back. I didn’t expect that. Honestly, our simulations put us P7-P8 behind obviously Sergio Perez and George Russell.

“That’s why I was talking about damage limitation and then when I found myself with good race pace to overtake them and go for the podium, it was a pleasant surprise. Very happy with the pace.”

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