A series of issues prevents Carlos Sainz from maximising his potential in Singapore Sprint Qualifying

Friday, 9 October 2026:

- Free Practice 1: P15, 1:34.651, 31 laps

- Sprint Qualifying: P22, 1:37.376, 7 laps

• Carlos Sainz had to settle for the last time in the Singapore Sprint Qualifying, due to a human mistake acknowledged by the FIA, which impacted many cars and affected Carlos’ Williams FW48 when he was in his flying lap.
• That issue essentially neutralised the activation of the overtaking mode in the closing stages of SQ1, which translated into a loss of electric power. It was solved from SQ2, but the Spanish driver could not make the cut.
• Carlos was unhappy regardless because he had felt some brake issues already in the practice session. The team now faces the Sprint as a transition to the Qualifying session, where they will be able to work on the set-up once again.

QUOTES:

“We had another software issue that impacted multiple cars. It was momentary, but I lost power during my flying lap and the lap was compromised. On top of that, we had some issues in FP1 with the brakes and had to make some changes that weren’t ideal. Scrappy lap overall as I also locked up into turn 8, so a qualifying to forget. It’s disappointing but we have another chance to go again tomorrow”.

COMING UP:

Saturday, 10 October 2026:

- Sprint: 17:00 local time (11:00 CEST)

- Qualifying: 21:00 local time (15:00 CEST)