Carlos Sainz had a fiery end to his 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, as his power unit blew up, and his Ferrari went up in flames, leaving him lost for words.
The Spaniard was getting ready to attack the Red Bull of Max Verstappen when puffs of smoke started coming out of his F1-75, stopping soon after that, as flames started to engulf the Red Car.
The moments before Sainz got out of his burning car were dramatic as he tried to stop is from rolling back on track while trying to escape the flames, but with the marshals coming to his aid promptly he was thankfully unharmed but definitely disappointed for losing a certain second place.
Sainz reflected on the sudden issue with Sky Sports F1, saying: "There was no feedback coming from the engine that this was about to happen, very sudden.
It could have been a Ferrari 1-2
"I am a bit lost for words because this is obviously a big loss of points and result for the team today because I think it could have been an easy 1-2," he added. "There's a lot of damage for sure.
It was a big hit for the driver who just last Sunday, took his maiden F1 victory on his 150th race in top flight, as well as his first pole position as well in Silvestone.
"Not ideal and it is something we will need to keeping looking at but the pace was there, the tyre degradation was very low on our car and we were fast," Sainz reflected. "So, I will take it and turn the page as soon as possible.
"It is more difficult to take because we were about to cut the points to the leaders of the Championship, both Max and Red Bull, to do a very big result for the team and one of the cars DNF," he lamented.
"It is heartbreaking but we will need to keep pushing, turn the page and it is still a long season ahead," the Ferrari driver concluded.
Sainz is currently fourth in the Drivers' Championship, only five points ahead of George Russell, in fifth, as the latter took fourth in Spielberg on Sunday.
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