Hungary F1 onboard contradicts Carlos Sainz’s blue flags claim

Carlos Sainz's excuse for colliding with Oscar Piastri at the Hungarian Grand Prix has been dealt a hammer blow after onboard footage and radio transmissions have emerged online.

Before Piastri retired with a gearbox failure, the Australian had been leading in Hungary. Having pitted, he looked set to retain the lead over team-mate Lando Norris, before coming across Sainz's Williams. 

When blue flags show, a driver is obliged to pull over and allow the faster car through before passing three such signals. 

While it has been acknowledged that there was a problem with the system on Sunday, which meant the numbers of drivers set to be lapped were not shown and nor were the indicator lights on the steering wheel, Sainz claimed after the race it was "impossible to avoid" Piastri, claiming he had "no idea" that the Australian had closed up on him before colliding, despite being handed a five-second penalty by the stewards.

However, this excuse has been contradicted by onboard video footage that shows the Williams man going past eight blue flags, which were impossible not to spot. 

But more damning is the radio feed, where Sainz was clearly warned of Piastri closing from behind - something that the stewards acknowledged in their decision.

Following a separate incident, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff criticised the "Teletubbies engineers" for not keeping drivers up to date with their current situations, this after Kimi Antonelli was similarly hindered by slower traffic. 

He said: "The marshalling system not functioning and cars in the back defending against Lewis and Kimi’s fight.

“It’s just disgraceful from some of these Teletubbies engineers that sit on the pit walls of these teams, not telling the drivers what’s happening behind."