Carlos Sainz’s unbroadcast radio message explains Oscar Piastri incident at Hungarian Grand Prix

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Carlos Sainz was penalised after a dramatic clash with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Piastri looked on course to win the race when he encountered the Williams on lap 39 out of 70. He tried to get by at turn three, but Sainz moved across to take the normal racing line, and they made contact.

It was clear that Sainz hadn’t seen the Australian, but an understandably furious Piastri called him an ‘idiot’ over the radio.

Carlos Sainz says he had ‘no idea’ that Oscar Piastri was trying to lap him

McLaren subsequently told Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris that there was an issue with the blue-flag systems during the race, and this seems to have caught Sainz out.

While Williams told him that Piastri was approaching, he claimed to have ‘no idea’ just how close the McLaren was.

Sainz was battling Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at the time, which meant he had his eyes fixed forward, rather than in his mirrors.

In their verdict, the stewards accepted that Sainz had ‘limited visibility’ in that section of the racetrack, which is why he only received a five-second penalty rather than the customary 10.

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tyler.rowlinson3h

Norris and Antonelli said even they were getting blue flags because of the system failure, so that would have caused confusion for everyone in terms of who actually had them. That said, I completely agree with you. Surely these drivers should know what position they’re in and when to let someone pass?

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“I had no idea Piastri was there,” Sainz said. “[It was] Impossible to know when I was fighting Alonso. I didn’t know he was there.”

When it was put to Piastri afterwards that Sainz wasn’t given proper signals, he told Dutch broadcaster Viaplay: “For me, that’s no excuse at all.

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“That’s got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen on a race track. I don’t really care what excuse he gave.”

Piastri was running second when he retired due to a gearbox issue. That ultimately rendered the Sainz controversy academic, but at the time, it looked race-defining.

Sainz was second from last among the classified finishers in 18th, having been lapped twice.