Sainz reveals reason for his crash at the Australian Grand Prix

Having made his debut with Williams at Melbourne, Carlos Sainz has indicated that technical reasons were to blame for his crash in the early stages of the Australian Grand Prix.

Having qualifying sixth on the grid, Alex Albon lost a place to Charles Leclerc at the start of the 57-lap Australian Grand Prix. The Thai driver was running seventh for much of the race, but made the right call to pit for inters once the rain arrived which catapulted him up to fourth.

In the closing stages of the race, Albon lost out late on to Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, but his fifth-place finish was still a positive start to his season.

"I’m really happy. It was such a crazy race, I’m still trying to get my head around it! It’s fantastic for the team - a P5 is very special and may not come around many times this year. Our strategist did an amazing job. Honestly, it was so difficult out there; these conditions are typically what we hate and, despite all of that, we were still one of the strongest midfield runners out there.

"Points like today mean a lot and I’m positive about what’s to come. We’re a very bonded team, it was great to have Carlos helping on the pit wall too. This is for everyone at Grove, for all their work."

His team-mate Carlos Sainz endured a tough Sunday on a weekend when he displayed impressive speed across all practice sessions. The Spaniard spun off into the barriers on the very first lap after his car stepped out when he tried to get on the throttle.

Following the incident, the four-time F1 race winner took on the role of a strategist, and his input helped the team decide what calls to make with their other car.

"First of all, a massive congratulations to Alex and the team; he did a great job and started off our season on the right foot. For me, we’ve looked at the data and could quickly spot what happened, so this leaves me calmer about the situation.

"Without going into details, it’s related to the upshifts when in Safety Car Mode. I’m obviously frustrated about it and feel sorry for everyone in the team.

"I spent the rest of the race trying to help on the radio and I’m happy I could at least participate in that way. Thankfully China is already next weekend and I can’t wait to jump back in the car," concluded Sainz.