Williams explain the cause of Carlos Sainz’s bizarre pit lane speeding offences in Mexico

Williams boss James Vowles has revealed that damage to Carlos Sainz’s wheel speed sensors resulted in two penalties for speeding in the pit lane.

Despite another impressive qualifying display, Sainz was unable to capitalise on it.

The Spaniard picked up damage on the opening lap of the race.

Sainz was one of several drivers to cut the first sequence of corners.

However, an incident with Liam Lawson ruined his race.

Sainz was still on the hunt for points but ended up picking up two penalties for speeding.

Explaining the issues Sainz faced in Sunday’s race, Vowles said: “A very difficult day. The positive news is the car was very fast, but we were unable to use it. In the case of Carlos, the race was over after Turn 1 and the damage resulted in both a flat spot but also damage to our wheel speed sensors, which are critical for the pit speed limiter.

“The net result is that we had to box earlier as the vibrations were significant, putting us on a two-stop, which led to us going 0.2 kilometres an hour over the pit speed limit and receiving the five-second penalty.

“When we came in for the second stop, we tried controlling it manually at 70 kilometres an hour, and on exit, Carlos still went slightly over the pit speed limiter, resulting in a drive-through penalty, which we completed.

“Without the drive-through penalty, and even with all the other elements, Carlos was still fighting for a point today, which is very impressive.”

Giving his perspective, Sainz said: “A race full of issues, compromised probably by the contact at the start.

“I think we were three or four into [Turn] 1 and there was a big melee that I think… We were three or four cars side by side, like always in Mexico, a tricky one.

“I think I damaged my rim, which damaged my first set of tyres, my rim sensor, my speed sensors of the tyre and my pit limiter wasn’t working.”

Another tough weekend for Albon

Alex Albon endured another tough weekend.

Albon lamented brake-related issues in qualifying, leading to another early exit in Q1.

He also bemoaned Williams’ strategy as he finished outside the top 10.

“With Alex, we didn’t get it right across the board, from communication, to start tyre, to how we optimised his performance,” Vowles added.

“This is a blip in what has been a strong season, so let’s finish strong across the next four events.”