Sainz blasts Lindblad but disagrees with Alonso’s ‘very low’ quality driver criticism
Carlos Sainz needed a new front wing after his incident with Arvid Lindblad
Although Carlos Sainz blasted Arvid Lindblad’s “dangerous” driving in Austin, he does not agree with Fernando Alonso that the standard of drivers on the “lower third” of the grid is “very low”.
Both Alonso and Sainz were involved in opening lap incidents at the United States Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz responds to Fernando Alonso’s criticism of F1 drivers
Alonso’s Aston Martin suffered extensive floor damage when Alex Albon tried to overtake him for 12th place into the Turn 11 hairpin on the opening lap.
The Williams driver went into the side of the Aston Martin, damaging both cars.
As for Sainz, he had to pit for a new front wing when Arvid Lindblad squeezed him towards the wall on the front straight.
Sainz tried to muscle his way through on Lindblad, only for the Racing Bulls driver to close the door.
Sainz was baffled that the stewards did not investigate the incident as he feared it would’ve been a huge crash had he not backed out.
“I’m surprised he got away with that because obviously he’s putting someone in the wall and creating what could have potentially been a very big accident,” he said.
“But backed out in time for me, picked up a lot of front wing damage, which compromised my first stint. Double that, obviously, a slow pit stop to change the front wing, seven, eight seconds extra.
“So yeah, bit of a shame about start and Lap 1 was compromised, and stint one was compromised, but is what it .”
It raises the question: does he agree with Alonso’s claim that the standard of drivers is not up to scratch?
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The double world champion declared after the race that “the quality of the drivers in the lower third of the grid is very low, as we saw today with Alex.”
Asked about Alonso’s comments, Sainz said Lindblad had gone ‘too far’, but rejected the suggestion that the standard of driving was poor.
“I think we are all pretty very high standards,” he replied.
“It’s just that sometimes someone has a bit of an off moment, which always happens in F1 today.
“My opinion on Arvid, maybe too much on me. But we’ve all been too much one or two days.
“What I’m surprised is that when you are too much, you get away with it.
“And whenever I’ve been too much, I never get away with it.
“But yeah, I’m surprised that today, yeah, someone got away with it because it was a pretty nasty moment there on the wall.”
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