Williams’ Albon shocked Sainz in Miami GP, ignoring freeze orders, sparking internal tension and strong race pace debate.
While most headlines after the Miami Grand Prix focused on Ferrari’s team order drama, a quieter but telling moment unfolded at Williams F1. Alex Albon overtook Carlos Sainz at a time when the team had planned to freeze positions, but a timing issue seems to have caused confusion.
“It was probably right when the message came through that I passed him,” Albon said. “If we’d stayed close a bit longer, they might’ve told me to hold position. But at that moment, we were still free to race. It was just a delay between both cars.”
Sainz was clearly frustrated, venting on team radio near the end of the race: “This isn’t how I race.” Williams team boss James Vowles personally responded, agreeing with Sainz and calling for clearer team communication going forward.
Later, Sainz opened up about what happened. “The team told us to hold position, and then… I don’t know if Alex got the message or not, but he overtook me anyway.”
What bothered Sainz most wasn’t just being passed, it was feeling powerless. “For me, if they tell me on the radio we’re not racing and we’ll attack together, and then I get overtaken, I just look stupid. I couldn’t defend myself.”
“You try to play the good guy. Same thing happened in Jeddah, you get passed and look completely silly. But that’s how it goes. We’ll talk it through, and I’m sure we’ll grow from it as a team.”
Despite finishing a frustrating ninth, Sainz praised the pace of the FW47 and his own recovery. “Our pace was strong on my side of the garage. I struggled a bit in the first two laps, thought I might’ve damaged the car in Turn 3, and that threw me off a little. But once I settled in, we were fast. If you look at the race pace, we were solid.”
Albon, who finished fifth, admitted even the team was surprised by their performance. “This weekend caught us off guard, in a good way. We’ve been asking all weekend: why are we so quick?”
“It’s not a mystery anymore, it’s more about what this track gave us. And what we’ve seen is that there aren’t really any corners this car struggles with. From the first lap of Free Practice, the car felt good, and that let us push hard. That’s crucial during a Sprint weekend.”
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Albon stuns Sainz in Miami as Williams defy team orders Albon stuns Sainz in Miami as Williams defy team orders