Carlos Sainz makes his feelings known about the race-ending clash with Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda at the F1 Bahrain GP

Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz revealed that he was frustrated that his clash with Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda ended his chances of scoring points at the 2025 Bahrain GP. The Spanish driver started the race from P8 and made a great start. He picked up a place but was eventually unable to keep the faster cars behind him and as a result, fell to P10 before the first round of pit stops.

However, in his bid to get past the Japanese driver on Lap 30, the four-time F1 race winner clashed with the Red Bull driver which damaged the spaniards' sidepods. Although he was able to get past Tsunoda in the sequence of moves, the damage ultimately left him tumbling down the grid and caused him to retire from the Bahrain GP.

While speaking with F1.com, Carlos Sainz was disappointed with the clash with Yuki Tsunoda as he believed that he was fighting faster cars around him in the points position. He said:

“To be honest we were just fighting the whole race with cars that were quicker than us. It got a bit hectic at one point with Yuki, sent a big one down the inside, and then exiting Turn 1 I think he lost the rear and touched me. It cost me the damage and then from then on I had a second to a second and a half of car damage, so I had to retire.

“[It’s a] bit of a shame, because at points it looked like we could have a good haul of points for the first time in the year, but we still lack a bit of pace and we still need to improve a few things, but we are on the right track.”

Carlos Sainz has scored just a solitary point from the first four races and one Sprint in the 2025 season. He has struggled in the FW47 thus far.

Carlos Sainz reflects on his performance at the Bahrain GP

Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz believed that he made a step forward in terms of getting more comfortable with the FW47 at the end of the Bahrain GP.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the Spaniard reflected:

“Yes, just in the midfield it is so difficult to get points if you don’t get everything perfect. When I recovered the pace and went to overtake Yuki to get back in the points and get the race back going, we had this damage. Still, not a clean weekend, which is what I was looking for, but I feel like we are getting closer.”

Carlos Sainz's DNF and Alex Albon's P12 finish meant that the Grove-based outfit lost its hold on P5 in the Constructors Championship to Haas and trails them by a point in the standings.