Unbroadcast team radio communications from the Italian Grand Prix have exposed a moment when Carlos Sainz was overruled by the Williams pit wall during a disagreement over team orders. The incident occurred during the race at Monza as the Spanish driver communicated his reluctance to comply immediately with the team’s instruction to let teammate Alex Albon pass.
The Italian Grand Prix was notably influenced by multiple team orders, with McLaren’s call for Oscar Piastri to swap positions with Lando Norris attracting widespread attention. Within this context, the Williams team’s management of Sainz and Albon’s race positions added another layer of strategic controversy.
Sequence of Events Around the Williams Team Orders Conflict
During the early stages of the Italian GP, Carlos Sainz was running eighth on medium tyres while Alex Albon held ninth place on hard compounds. Sainz began to encounter performance issues following a driving error, during which he cut across the run-off area at the second chicane. Shortly thereafter, Williams radioed for Sainz to let Albon through, aiming to optimize the team’s overall race strategy.
Sainz, however, initially resisted this directive. Through radio exchanges with race engineer Gaetan Jego, he requested to pit on the following lap to minimize time lost and avoid having to reduce pace in order to give position to Albon. Eventually, Jego insisted on the instruction to lift and allow Albon past on the approach to Turn 4 during the current lap, arguing that pitting immediately would cause Sainz to get stuck in a slower DRS train behind other cars.
The full radio exchange revealed Sainz’s hesitation and the team’s firm response:
Jego:
So, instruction: Let Alex through into Turn 4. Keep the racing line and stay in his DRS.
—Gaetan Jego, Race Engineer
Sainz:
Yeah, but why don’t we box in that case? Box me at the end of this lap.
—Carlos Sainz, Driver
Sainz:
Box me. And then I don’t have to lose the race time.
—Carlos Sainz, Driver
Jego:
OK, so instruction: Lift into Turn 4, lift into Turn 4. You’re still making progress compared to the cars [behind]. We want to extend. So into Turn 4, keep the racing line. Instruction this lap, please.
—Gaetan Jego, Race Engineer
Sainz:
I think there’s more to win by… guys, I don’t agree. Please.
—Carlos Sainz, Driver
Jego:
OK, the situation if you box now, you’re behind five cars in a DRS train and you’re gonna be stuck in a DRS train. Their pace is not good enough, so you’re still pulling away from them. I think we need to stay out and follow the instruction.
—Gaetan Jego, Race Engineer
Sainz:
Copy. Let’s see if Alex can pull [me along with] the DRS. OK.
—Carlos Sainz, Driver
Jego:
Yeah, because if Alex is quicker he will pull you. So let’s try that, OK? Into Turn 4, this lap.
—Gaetan Jego, Race Engineer
Following this instruction, Sainz allowed Albon to pass by maintaining the inside line through Curva Grande into the second chicane on Lap 25.
Race Results and Post-Race Statements from Sainz
Alex Albon went on to finish seventh, securing his fourth points-scoring result in the last six races, while Carlos Sainz dropped to 11th place after a late collision with Haas driver Oliver Bearman. Sainz later reflected on his hesitance to immediately comply with the team orders, stating he needed a clearer understanding of the race situation before executing the position swap.
He told Thomas Maher of PlanetF1.com and other media that he was seeking the bigger picture before taking action and said,
And once they explained, I let him by.
—Carlos Sainz, Driver
History of Team Orders Issues at Williams Involving Sainz
This was not the first instance of tension between Carlos Sainz and Williams regarding team orders strategies. At the Miami Grand Prix in May, Sainz was clearly frustrated after being instructed to let Albon pass despite the latter managing a mechanical issue.
His anger was evident in an emotional radio message at the finish line, where he said,
That’s not how I go racing, guys. I don’t care. I don’t care. I’ve lost a lot of confidence here on everything.
—Carlos Sainz, Driver
Following that incident, James Vowles, Williams’ team principal, promised to improve inter-driver communication and coordination significantly to avoid similar disputes in the future.
Impact and Implications of the Williams Team Orders Controversy
The revealed disagreement between Carlos Sainz and Williams underscores the complexity of managing team orders under high-pressure race conditions, especially when drivers’ immediate judgment conflicts with race strategy decisions from the pit wall. Such incidents can affect driver confidence and team morale, as seen in Sainz’s reactions.
Williams’ decision to hold firm on their instructions reflects an emphasis on overall race strategy rather than individual driver preference, which may help optimize points but risks internal friction. How this dynamic will evolve and whether Williams can better align their drivers with strategic calls remains a key question as the season continues.
