‘A lot of fire’ - Sainz had no warning of “very sudden” engine blow up

The Spaniard, who became F1’s newest race victor by winning the British Grand Prix last time out, was on course to make it a Ferrari 1-2 behind Charles Leclerc as he hunted down Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the end of the Spielberg race.

Just as Sainz shaped up to make a move on Verstappen with 14 laps to go, he suffered an engine failure - the fourth mechanical failure for the Italian outfit in 11 races this season. 

• Leclerc passes Verstappen three times to win F1 Austrian Grand Prix
• Full race results

There were uncomfortable scenes when Sainz’s car caught fire and began rolling backwards down a slope after he pulled off at Turn 4. Sainz initially struggled to get out of his moving car as the flames lapped around him before he escaped. 

“There was no feedback coming from the engine that this was about to happen,” Sainz explained. 

“[It was] very sudden. I’m lost for words because it’s a big loss on points, and a huge result for the team. I think it would have been an easy 1-2 today.” 

Asked what he saw, Sainz replied: “Fire. A lot of fire. A lot of damage for sure, which is not ideal and something that we will need look at. 

“At least today the pace was there, the degradation was very low on our car. We were fast. I will take it and turn the page as soon as possible.”

Sainz admitted his fourth DNF of the season was harder to take given the competitiveness of his Ferrari this weekend in Austria. 

The result leaves Sainz fourth in the drivers’ standings, 75 points behind world championship Verstappen, while Ferrari are 56 points down on leaders Red Bull in the constructors’. 

“For sure it is more difficult because we were about to cut the points to the leaders in the championship, both Max and Red Bull,” Sainz added. 

“We were about to do a very big result for the team and one of the cars DNF’d. It’s heartbreaking but we need to keep pushing and turn the page. It’s still a long season ahead.”