“Sorry to Ferrari and Alex Albon”: Carlos Sainz apologizes after a ‘race to forget’ in the F1 Canadian Grand Prix

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz apologized to his team and Alex Albon after the recently concluded Canadian Grand Prix. Sainz suffered a DNF and his actions forced Albon to retire from the race.

The Spanish driver spent most of his race struggling with pace. Despite starting the race at P11, he could not break into the top 10. He then tried a desperate move, which ultimately ruined his race.

Carlos Sainz decided to overtake Albon to claim P10. Although he pulled off the move, his SF-24 ventured into the wet part of the track and subsequently to the kerb.

This made him lose control and hit Alex Albon. It resulted in both his and Albon's DNF. Once the race was completed, an apologetic Sainz, from his official Instagram account, wrote:

"A race to forget for the team. The entire weekend has been on the edge for us. I tried to push on the DRS train to overtake and did a mistake on the kerb. Sorry to the team [Ferrari] and to Albon. We now need to understand what happened here and move on."

Ferrari had a disastrous outing in Montreal where the Prancing Horse could not claim a single point. Sainz and his teammate Charles Leclerc's Q2 exit on Saturday already crippled the team. Sunday's double DNFs ended all hopes for the Tifosi.

Leclerc faced issues with his power unit throughout the race. Initially, the issue caused the Monegasque to lose as much as half a second per lap. Although Leclerc and Ferrari managed to clear out the issue, it was too late for them.

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Carlos Sainz says Canadian Grand Prix was "one-off"

F1 Grand Prix of Canada MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JUNE 09: Carlos Sainz of Spain driving (55) the Ferrari SF-24 runs through a puddle on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 09, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)

As Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc failed to help Ferrari close the gap to Red Bull, the Spanish driver said a race like this was "one-off." Speaking about the same, the former McLaren man said, as per Motorsport:

"I think Canada was a bit of a one-off, a bit of a special one and we need to understand what happened as a team. There was clearly something the others were doing in qualifying with the tires to prep them better."

Formula 1 moves to Spain up next for the 10th race of the season. It will be interesting to see if Sainz can help his team return to the top when the lights go out in Barcelona on June 23.