Carlos Sainz is getting hard to defend

0:00What are you gonna do tonight? Let it be, what you're actually doing tonight Let it be, what you're actually doing tonight Take it away, Jordan Come on, come on, let's go Pop it down, all go out of it It's easy, take off all the lines We have a lot to do It's finally off on the road, catch it all Be a bell, bye, come on out, take it when you get it Here's a tip for you, there's a podcast out there with fans waiting to be your next customer

1:03They tune in every week, they trust the host And that host wants to talk about brands like yours in their own words to their audience The problem is, you just haven't been introduced yet We're Acast where that introduction happens As the world's largest podcast marketplace We let you browse shows, see who's listening And how we spread sponsorships or run your own ads all from one platform Transparent pricing, real-time data, complete control Start advertising on podcasts by visiting acast.com slash advertise Car loss lines is having as worst ever And I'm not talking about the car or the head-to-head or anything like that I'm talking about his reputation because That's taken abaching I'll get this out of the way early, my revenge art piece is, yeah, this rate the spanish is going to need a redemption art Car loss sites made his home Grand Prix much harder to defend after he finished driving Sure, the track organizers have now come out to say that, yeah, next year will be better for overtaking

2:08But its own ambassador still had a rubbish weekend I mean for starters, he impeded against botters, so that was three places lost right there He managed to get most of those places back before then he clattered into Yuki Snow to around turn one So that's that and since I am a very big believer in the rule of threes The third one came along when he had that clash around turn five with Fernando Alonzo Q the explanation and Fernando complained and Carlos said Ehim, he managed to get me a penalty Like always, well, Carlos did you need on the breaking by any chance? Because my dear fellow, that's what these stewards were penalising Now look, I like this guy, he's one of my guys after all of the hard work he put in to try and get McClarum back on its feet in 2019 I want his Williams move to work out so badly, but right now it's just going so badly Thus I am finding more of these weekends where he gets himself into these situations harder to watch and it's just

3:09Oh my goodness, I bet that you're probably feeling irritated too I'm sure he's irritated as well I mean, the car's giving him enough problems already but he doesn't need to finish the weekend having an argument about Fernando's radio on top of all of that right And I think that's why Madrid felt particularly rubbish in my opinion Because I was hoping for something encouraging from his home race but instead we're discussing yet another collision And the circuit which he staked his reputation on produced less overtakes than Monoco Even the Spanish minister of transport could find something to say about this, he dubbed it an absolute disaster And oh yes, can you take a guess what position that Alonso and Siser battle for? Ah yes, very much reminiscent of Piazzri and Siser and Hungarro Ring This was for the Dizzying Heights of P17 With the stewards declaring that he, Carlos, should have left more room And the fact that they did actually make contact resulted in this just not being a slap on the wrist but instead a five second time penalty Carlos then argued that the nature of the corner forced the movement because realistically he does have a point

4:13Turn 5 doesn't really offer up much opportunity for you to have power move off Unless one of those drivers is willing to take to the escape route or go jumping across the curbs And he also in his own judgement did not consider Fernando to be alongside him and he thought he still owned the corner So there is a little bit of justification in there I mean you just watch the approach and you must be asking yourself where could these drivers realistically go? So there is something to this and you can see why this corner in particular is one of three corners that is definitely going to be modified for 2027 But still saying that Alonso was whining doesn't settle any of that Even an absolutely insufferable radio message wouldn't change where Carlos put the car I'd rather hear him explain precisely in calmly where the stewards got it wrong rather than lament about who said what Because having a microphone and being then put up onto the well fee doesn't mean that Fernando has a penalty button on his steering wheel No no no no no that kind of job is left for penalty job Because what Carlos did has made us completely forget about the incident itself about the penalty about like

5:15Oh he has beef for the longsauve and as a certain kiwi experienced a couple of years ago You don't want to be picking beef with that two time wall champion It's not going to end well for you And the really awkward bit of all of this is that Carlos has a lot more access to the organizers of the circuit because well he is a circuit ambassador Him bringing out the nature of turn five carries that little bit more validity And as Nico Rosberg did point out with him being an ambassador in fact the ambassador of the circuit It does come with a few side effects as in if this track turns out to be absolutely rubbish Your name is attached to it he should therefore share some of the blame for the layouts overtaking issues Because he not only promoted the race he even did some inaugural laps in various machines He even partook in some VTs for various f1 broadcasters about driving the circuit and telling about how great Lamonio mental is He's naturally associated with it especially since Madrid is his hometown

6:17You then go oh yeah Carlos was really hocking this circuit Wow turns out he made a robust decision so it doesn't do his reputation any favors in that regard either Even if he did have a good weekend and managed to bag a point And as we have seen somewhat Carlos has started to do a little bit of back peddling or washing of his hands Take a pick of the analogy Him saying that he suggested changes to the layout a year ago including around the offending turn five That he had nothing to do with the circuit design that we got Or this before the clash he had with Alonzo And to give his peddling some validity the race did report that approval timing and construction constraints affected what could be done last minute And if you saw the photos and my vlogs the circuit does feel a little bit unfinished that it could be more complete next year Yes he probably should have pushed that little bit harder to get some changes actually made in time Even if it was just real microscopic ones We need to realistically ask ourselves so I'll get the phone of doubt out Who could realistically get all of this done and approved in time because I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of committees involved with this circuit

7:24Because there are far more people than just Carlos science involved in designing this circuit And if you go a little bit more in detail regarding the history of this track You realise it is absolutely chock full of drama the original circuit designer isn't even affiliated with it anymore He's a person a non grata needless to say it's had a very very difficult birth And yet none of that makes all of the Alonzo drama go away because regardless of what happened and regardless of the involvement Carlos had They still had to race through that corner And him knowing how awkward it could be should make his judgement in going into that corner all the more important right Considering that these are two very experienced drivers I would really hope they would have come to a very logical conclusion What happened there was something I would be expecting from somebody who's only been an F1 for a couple of years I do believe that Carlos have proper complaints regarding the circuit but I certainly believe that his conduct this weekend has completely distracted us from any of that

8:25All we're now thinking is oh great Carlos is shifting the blame once again Just like with Piaestry all over again and as I mentioned this came right off of the back of what happened on Saturday When he impeded valtory bot-ass and he went from P17 did Carlos to P20 Lovely but to be fair that is slightly more and Williams because they didn't inform the Spaniard in time that Valtteri was coming up behind him They hadn't warned him that the Finn was on a flying lap and a driver does rely on that kind of information while preparing his own lap Especially around a busy circuit like them a drink. Nevertheless, it was the driver that got the punishment not the team That's what many folks will probably focus on because Carlos got the crime so he should do the time Which meant that his proper home race contained two separate stewarding penalties Another thing going wrong when there wasn't really much room for anything to go wrong You can see he acknowledged that he'd driven a poor Q1 that he deserved to be eliminated So there's one example of him being blunt about his own shortcomings that weekend I also think the ultimate reason as to why he got a DNF should be separated from the Alonso clashes

9:27Well because he was running a damaged car after his contact with Yuki Senota which was bad enough in it itself But given the nature of lap 1 inform you the one and this being turned one You do get a certain leniency from the stewards as in well it was nothing really just an incident But the penalty was already there for Carlos in having a compromised car Just as we saw with Piaestry when he had contact with George Russell which compromises from wing So yeah if you got a wounded car around the circuit you're gonna have a bad time And according to Carlos indeed that damage was his undoing this weekend With the collision with Alonso being the crowning turd in the water pipe Either way I still find the way he went about it with Alonso that a poor way to going about it Because they were fighting for pretty much last place This was not the case of them fighting for victory or a podium or even P10 All I think that does is make his public swipe because the boughs with Fernando all the more costly for his own standing in Formula 1 All of that messy contact for no real reward just like around the hungara ring

10:29Carlos fighting for his life for something that's not even close to a singular point And all Carlos got out of it with him having yet another argument with Fernando Alonso And this coming off the back of not just maybe an hour ago where he and the Spaniard veteran were around La Monumentale brothers in arms celebrating the fact that Madrid was finally hosting a grompry again Shooting t-shirts into the stadium Yeah it all looked absolutely body body But that being said Fernando isn't entirely innocent here He can be really effective at making sure everybody hears his side of the story Remember all of the stuff he had with Lawson back in 2024? Yeah it just went to show that if you decide to have a tangle with Fernando You are going to not have a good time either there And in this case at home with two prominent Spanish drivers involved The personal exchange was always going to be a powder keg if it came Quick question when was the last time a display ad changed your mind? Now think about the last time a friend told you about something they loved

11:32Different feeling right? That's how podcast advertising works A host who's built a real trust with their audience talks about your brand and their own words and their own voice It doesn't interrupt the experience it's part of it with a cast You can access the world's largest podcast marketplace Choose the right shows the right audiences the right format then watch the data tell you it worked You're not buying impressions you're buying influence Learn more by visiting a cast dot com slash advertise I'd have much preferred Carlos to give people something more convincing to discuss them With a Fernando complains too much especially because we don't have to imagine what a better response from Carlos might look like Because he gave us one around Zambot when he clattered into Albon around turn one He immediately apologized before then explaining about the warm tires and the mic That was good! Like that he's able to explain the circumstances Whilst also taking responsibility just holding his hand up and saying

12:32Yeah okay my bad sorry mate that was respectable It also showed that making a mistake doesn't have to turn into a protracted debate about who was the right person and who said what over the radio He is capable of apologising sometimes And you know what it's why I'm reluctant to give him a pass on the whole Alonzo thing Because he's demonstrated that he can handle these situations better And Alex comes out of this as the better driver the karma option as it were But having said that though and you know I'll get no no no to phoma out for this one The point situation is not showing that the karma option is the better option in 2020 Because when you look at the head to head and you look at the points Carlos just has the edge over the type of brick driver by a singular point Yes it's small potatoes but given where Williams are in the constructors Small potatoes are at least potatoes that you have Both drivers have very little to show for it in 2026 And Williams' problems were there before all of the incidents that Carlos has had with the drivers

13:32So there's no point retreading all ground there We all know what's gone on when this season by now But there is a very real danger that that all could be forgotten And instead the only thing that people associate with Williams in 2026 Is the way that Carlos signs was really conducting himself in a very very poor way His displays of ugliness in terms of interviews and what he says is overshadowing All of the ugliness that we are seeing with the Williams is trying to make a car The ugly results all we're seeing is Carlos at his worst Because there aren't any standout results like a podiuming to car Because you've got to remember Carlos isn't a rubbish driver He is a very good driver I mean Ferrari wouldn't have retained his services for four seasons if he wasn't And yes his prime is being wasted at Williams right now It really needs to come good next year and the year after that I do accept and respect that Carlos has surely done that the world of good behind the scenes back at base As in trying to geop support and trying tighten things up from within within a private space

14:33That none of us are privy to be seeing So we've got to really acknowledge that that people back at the Oxfordshire base are seeing Carlos And they do feel motivated that at least one top tier driver is still believing in them And there is still a lot of potential in Carlos setting some really good results in the not too distant future But this year, no no I don't see that happening It doesn't make watching this latest example of him not doing himself any favours less frustrating Because when a driver's winning or getting podiums, the next result gives you something else to talk about Here, there are a few obvious reminders of what Carlos can offer For the rest of the year there's nothing good coming His disputes this year are much easier to follow instead than working out how good his less visible performances have been I even tweeted about it and some of the replies were very critical Echoing my own frustration with his behaviour And I think that's where the real change lies here His fans are probably spending more time being frustrated and justifying his behaviour Than enjoying his driving with the car he's piloting only making it worse

15:36And yes, the Monday enters into it as well That reported 30 million euros a year salary for his extension That report came through GP fans from business twitter, rrrr, markly maca Has it been confirmed by Williams? As if, but I do understand why people are less patient regarding Carlos when they see that figure Because you think, Williams? 30 million a year? Really? Him now being, I think the sick most compensated driver on the grid for this And with someone that has the experience of Carlos, he'd be thinking that experience could carry this team through the year And at least be scoring more points than they had right now Six points and yes, I know this figure does not come into effect until 2027 But people see that number right now and associate it with right now and thinking This year justifying that kind of pay packet How? And all of that should be also including him making logical and sensible decisions Even when points are not likely to be forthcoming during a particular weekend As in, yeah, okay, let's just bring the car home, try and learn some things

16:40Weren't like P15 or P16 or hope the chaos up front But until then, let's just make sure that we don't add to the Williams repair bill Or giving the PR department yet another headache But whatever the amount turns out to be, Williams obviously values him staying And Vals has been on record multiple times that he and Alex have been able to guide this team through a very difficult time That they really hope that was behind them, you know, 2024 times They didn't really want to be seeing this all over again in 2026 This was supposed to be the year where things turned around instead Well, this happened prematurely in 2025 In a year where they weren't really even trying It seems very obvious that morale needs boosting around growth So, yeah, okay, if that's so true James, where's Alex's pay rise then? But let's be real, JB is not exactly a neutral observer here We all know how much he loves Carlos' science Hey, renewing him is a substantial commitment than just saying more platitudes that he has been over the last few months

17:41So even though I don't like what Carlos did around Madrid, I don't dismiss all the stuff that he's done for the team Because Williams has access to far more of his work than obviously I do It might be just a case all of this that Madrid gave us a poor example of the judgment that you would expect from such an experienced signing So, in future, I want fewer of those avoidable headaches from a driver who's meant to be helping Williams move forward Not make them look incompetent in choosing drivers, surely that's a reasonable expectation at any salary Now, in regards to him returning to the front of the grid, I don't know whether or not what he did around Madrid changed any team's opinion of him But considering the trends of the top four teams and them locking in their lineups for as long as possible I don't really think they're paying much attention to Carlos really I think the more pressing concern is him having to try and await for any hopes of his own lot right now improving He has committed to Williams whether or not he chose legitimately to stay with the team, sensing potential there

18:41Or of course the other scenario that there were simply no other opportunities available But should the team become competitive next year and the year after that then? Okay, fine, then this decision was fine, it's absolutely gravy His next opportunity might be already there in waiting with the FW50, that's the name of next year's car Other than that, he's going to need a top team wanting his services But I doubt Ferrari's going to take him back on because they've got youngsters coming up the ranks Piaestry and Norris, they're locked in, the Stappens locked in, Hajar's the ideal partner according to Meckys And Lawson's already showing his colours and as for Mercedes, well, even though George has taken a bashing in terms of his own standing Him very close to be receiving a Valperectomy, I'm not seeing Toto changing that line up anytime soon So I don't think Carlos driving well in a Williams is going to open up any sort of vacancy up at the top So all Carlos can do right now is bring Williams to the top as well That's why I'm finding this season so uncomfortable for somebody who does support Carlos science And recognizes what he did at McLaren and Renault and Ferrari

19:44Helping G up a rather troubled team or him fighting for wins from 2022 to 2024 He can win races and winning them spectacularly, mind you And even though Williams are not in the position to be scoring podiums or wins or even solid points What he needs right now is to make the decision of picking Williams a sound one But all that Madrid gave me was just yet another anger-inducing incident And making me question whether or not I should be continuing to support him I mean don't get me wrong, a better car would massively improve things for all concerned But until that arrives, he is the one having to make all of the decisions as to whether or not a move is worth while Given where he is within the classification Because there are things about his driving that he can improve before Williams can provide him a good car Now I'm not asking Carlos to become a mild chili, no the stubbornness of his can be part of what makes him exciting to watch But all I want is the judgement to match the experience because at Zanvord he showed he could explain a mistake rather maturely

20:48And take responsibility But against the lawns though, the complaint about complaining was the weakest part of his defence And I really don't want to rehash the stuff with Piaztery either And it's why I think the maddering weekend hurt his reputation more than the hungara ring weekend And that hurt his reputation a fair bit as well Because the car has been making this season hard to sell in terms of his fans But I think what he's been doing lately is just made that even harder What his explanation for the term 5 incident has convinced you if he left Fernando's radio out of it? That's what I'm asking you in the comments Because there is a proper racing argument right there waiting to be discussed But none of that matters anymore because all he did Carlos was make it personal And that's exactly what happened with Oscar and just the lack of remorse in some moments is just It was not a smooth operation at all But what is a smooth operation is you picking this video to watch next or maybe sampling my first ever newsletter over on my Patreon But for now I'll just go and freshen myself up and I'll be right with you

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23:01With a cast you can access the world's largest podcast marketplace choose the right shows the right audiences the right format Then watch the data tell you it worked you're not buying impressions you're buying influence learn more by visiting a cast dot com slash advertise Thanks for listening to my ladder ramblings if you liked what you heard do be sure to leave a five-star rating on your podcasting platform of choice I really do appreciate it and until the next time I traverse the ladder I hope you have a pleasant day goodbye