'Lost for words' - Carlos Sainz rues missed chance after fire forces dramatic retirement at Austrian Grand Prix

Updated 10/07/2022 at 19:46 GMT

Ferrari's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz looked set to claim second as part of a 1-2 for the Italian team at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. However a fault with his car forced a late retirement for Sainz, and he then had to leap from his car before it was engulfed in flames as race officials tried to put it out.

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Carlos Sainz was left speechless after a dramatic exit from the Austrian Grand Prix as he had to leap clear of his burning Ferrari.

With Ferrari on course for what seemed to be a routine 1-2 for the Italians, Sainz had to pull over and give up his second place as his engine appeared to cut out.

Quickly there were visible flames from the back of his vehicle which threatened to engulf the rest of the car, and race officials had to deal with the Ferrari rolling backwards while they also attempted to put out the fire.

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Fortunately, Sainz was able to jump out of the car and has not reported any physical injuries as a result of the incident.

Instead he has to deal with yet another technical problem that has cost him points, fresh from last weekend’s victory at Silverstone.

Speaking after the race to Sky Sports, the Spaniard said: "There was no feedback coming from the engine that this was about to happen, very sudden.

"I am a bit lost for words because this is obviously a big loss of points and result for the team today because I think it could have been an easy 1-2.

"Fire, a lot of damage for sure.

"Not ideal and it is something we will need to keep looking at but the pace was there, the tyre degradation was very low on our car and we were fast.

"So, I will take it and turn the page as soon as possible.”

Ultimately Sainz was disappointed that Ferrari were unable to take advantage of Red Bull driver Sergio Perez also having to retire.

"It is more difficult to take because we were about to cut the points to the leaders of the Championship, both Max [Verstappen] and Red Bull, to do a very big result for the team and one of the cars DNF,” he added.

"It is heartbreaking but we will need to keep pushing, turn the page and it is still a long season ahead."