Carlos Sainz cut a dejected figure in the paddock after a second consecutive Q1 elimination, with the Williams driver revealing that floor damage and brake issues left his car “undriveable” during the 2025 F1 Austrian GP Qualifying. The Spaniard will start 19th on the grid following a session filled with mechanical setbacks and confusion.
Sainz had already exited at the first hurdle in both Spain and Canada, but his lack of pace at the Red Bull Ring was even more surprising, given strong early-weekend indicators and Williams’ encouraging form in 2025. Speaking over team radio on his return to the garage, Sainz made clear that something was fundamentally wrong with the FW47.
“There’s damage in the car, for sure,” he said. “The car is undriveable. When I say undriveable, it’s pulling under braking, no load in high-speed. Undriveable.”
Floor damage and brake trouble confirmed
Sainz later confirmed in post-session interviews that the team had identified floor damage, which significantly reduced downforce. He also pointed to braking issues that had surfaced at the very beginning of the 2025 F1 Austrian GP Qualifying session, making the car unpredictable and uncomfortable to drive on the edge.
“We’ve just seen that we had quite a bit of damage on the floor, so we were lacking quite a lot of downforce,” he explained. “We also had an issue with the brakes from the start of Quali, so too many things going on to actually push around a high-confidence track like this.”
With the Red Bull Ring demanding commitment and stability through medium- and high-speed corners, Sainz’s technical struggles effectively ended his chances before they began.
Looking ahead after a “weird weekend”
Asked about what might be possible on race day, Sainz struck a cautiously optimistic tone, noting that Williams had performed well on long runs with the harder compounds. However, the lack of grip on soft tyres remained a concern.
“[It’s been] a very weird weekend,” he said. “We’ve been very quick in the long runs with the harder tyres, and then on soft tyres we never seem to be competitive. We’ll have to have a look why.”
The team will hope overnight analysis and repairs can at least give Sainz the tools to mount some form of recovery through the field on Sunday.
Albon battles through damage to secure 12th
While Sainz’s day unravelled early, Alex Albon gave Williams something to celebrate by qualifying 12th at the 2025 F1 Austrian GP despite suffering floor damage of his own. The Thai-British driver ran wide at Turn 7 during Q1, striking the kerbs and damaging the underside of his car. The team applied tape repairs, but his Q2 efforts were also disrupted by a poorly timed red flag.
“Honestly, I’m really happy,” Albon said. “We damaged the floor in Q1 in the middle of my quick lap. I ran wide through Turn 7 and we were fixing the rear with tape. Then we had that red flag, which was maybe the worst-timed red flag that could be there.”
“We ended up doing our last Q2 lap on used tyres and a damaged floor and we managed 12th, so I’m really happy.”
Williams focused on race recovery
Despite the mixed fortunes in qualifying, Williams remain firmly entrenched in fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship with 55 points—27 clear of Haas and Racing Bulls. With both drivers confirming promising long-run pace in practice and a strategic tyre advantage thanks to extra medium sets, the Grove-based outfit still holds hopes of a competitive result in Spielberg.
Albon, confident in the team’s race package, said: “We actually had good race pace [in practice]. I think, honestly, most probably in line with where we qualified, maybe a little bit faster than that still. We’ve got some good tyre options, I think we saved a couple more mediums than other teams, so let’s see how it goes.”
With changeable strategy options and degradation in play, Williams may yet leave Austria with valuable points—though much will depend on a clean start and whether Sainz’s issues can be fully resolved in time.
