Carlos Sainz slams ‘super dangerous’ Lewis Hamilton in Saudi Arabia

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Carlos Sainz criticised the ‘super dangerous’ Lewis Hamilton during the second practice session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Thursday.

There was a near-miss involving Hamilton, Sainz and the Williams of Logan Sargeant under the lights in Jeddah.

And Sainz issued a scathing indictment of his F1 rival on the team radio straight away.

Sainz approached the slow-moving Mercedes of Hamilton in the first sector, and then Sargeant arrived on the scene.

The American driver had to take evasive action, mounting the kerb to avoid making contact with Hamilton.

Hamilton told his team that he was trying to get out of Sainz’s way and didn’t realise that the Williams was coming.

The stewards noted the incident and then confirmed that they would investigate it after the session.

Carlos Sainz critical of Lewis Hamilton in Jeddah

Sainz told Ferrari that he couldn’t find away around Hamilton even as the Briton tried to let him by.

He claimed that Sargeant ‘nearly crashed’ because of the positioning of the Mercedes.

He said: “What Hamilton did there was super dangerous. Like he was in the middle. I couldn’t get out of the way. Sargeant nearly crashed because of him.”

Hamilton encounters issues ahead of Saudi GP

It wasn’t a smooth day for Hamilton ahead of the second race of the season, with the seven-time world champion encountering issues even before he attracted the attention of the stewards.

Early in the first practice session, he reported that he was experiencing rear bouncing and told the team to fix it.

The 39-year-old is hoping for a stronger weekend after a disappointing showing at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

He qualified in ninth place, six spots behind teammate George Russell, and was only able to recover to seventh.

Hamilton is in his final season with Mercedes after deciding to join Ferrari in 2025, where he’ll replace Sainz.