Sainz and Alonso clash at inaugural Madring race after lap 13 collision
Carlos Sainz Jr. received a five-second time penalty following a lap 13 collision with Fernando Alonso at the inaugural Madrid race, leaving both Spanish drivers outside the points.
Collision at Turn 5
During the inaugural Formula 1 race held at the Madring circuit, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr. made contact on lap 13 while competing for 17th position. Alonso attempted an overtake on the approach to Turn 5, placing his Aston Martin along the right-hand wall at speeds approaching 340 kilometres per hour. Sainz held his line in the Williams, closing the space during the braking phase before the first chicane. Alonso made contact with the rear of Sainz's car, destroying the front wing of the Aston Martin and sending debris across the track surface. The damage forced Alonso into the pit lane for a replacement nosecone, dropping him to 20th and last position before he recovered to finish 17th.
Heated radio exchanges and FIA penalty
Alonso immediately expressed his frustration over team radio, accusing Sainz of squeezing his car into the perimeter wall.
He pushed me into the wall. At the start of the race he almost crashed into two cars and now he pushed me into the wall while braking.
The FIA investigated the incident and handed Sainz a five-second time penalty for causing the collision. When informed of the stewards' penalty by his race engineer, Alonso celebrated over team radio by saying the word "Karma!". Sainz later claimed that Alonso's persistent complaints over team radio directly influenced the stewards to impose the five-second sanction.
I think he complained on the radio, so he got them to give me a penalty.
- Sainz makes contact with Tsunoda at Turn 1 and sustains floor damage
- Alonso collides with Sainz at Turn 5 and breaks his front wing
- Hamilton and Stroll retire due to brake failures, prompting a Virtual Safety Car
- FIA penalises Sainz with a five-second time penalty for the clash with Alonso
- Sainz retires from the grand prix and Alonso finishes in 17th place
Conflicting accounts of the manoeuvre
Speaking to reporters in the paddock, both drivers offered conflicting accounts of the Turn 5 manoeuvre. Alonso argued that Sainz had ample racing room to the left and acted with unnecessary aggression given their 340 km/h approach speed. Sainz countered that Turn 5 naturally narrows and accommodates only a single car on the ideal racing line. The Williams driver maintained that monitoring mirrors while turning is unfeasible and stated that Alonso was not sufficiently alongside him to claim the apex.
The nature of that curve is always going to cause this type of clash because there is only space for one car.
Alonso stated afterwards that avoiding dangerous wall contact at high speed was far more important than squabbling outside the points positions.
Early incidents and race retirements
The collision followed an opening lap in which Sainz initially gained positions on hard compound tyres before locking up at Turn 1, where he sustained floor damage after contact with Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda. Sainz explained that the floor damage turned his race into a survival effort, noting that Williams could not have finished higher than 16th position even without incidents. Sainz ultimately retired from the grand prix, becoming one of four retirements on the day. Earlier in the session, Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll both retired before completing 15 laps due to separate brake failures, triggering a Virtual Safety Car period. Sainz later noted that future circuit modifications by organisers and the FIA could improve overtaking opportunities at Madring.
