Sainz in the COTA paddock - Photo: Race Pictures

Sainz stands by 'blown out of proportion' F1 broadcast comments

20:28, 16 Oct

byBen Hunt

Carlos Sainz stands by his criticism of the broadcast of the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Williams driver felt that FOM should change its approach to the way the sport was broadcast and called on TV directors to “respect the competition” rather than “exaggerating” the coverage by featuring "celebrities and girlfriends”.

An F1 spokesperson responded to the Williams driver’s criticism and said that its TV offering sought to balance “context moments” of reactions from “grandstands, high-profile guests and the locations we race at”.

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And while Sainz says he stands by his opinion, he added that he did not mean to cause offence by his outburst.

Speaking ahead of the US GP in Austin, he told GPblog: “My comments were a bit blown out of proportion. I think the fact that I mentioned the girlfriends or the WAGs, however you call them, brought a bit of spiciness to the comment and went more viral worldwide and maybe what it should have been just a simple critique.

“It's clear that in Singapore the broadcaster didn't do a good job. I mean, there are other races where they do an incredible job and they show us things - incredible things and track action, but for Singapore it was not good."

Sainz with his partner Rebecca Donaldson at the Spanish GP - Photo: Race Pictures

He continued: “As a driver, it is the same thing. I have good weekends in my life where I perform at a very high level and other weekends, I'm not as good. I don't do a good job.

“The media analyse it and give me a rating out of 10 and obviously everyone's got their own right to say it. For me, Singapore was just not good enough and they missed way too much track action. But that doesn't mean it's a criticism of them or the way they do their job.

“It's just Singapore as a one race, it's a shame that in a track where it's so difficult to overtake, we missed so many on-track battles.

“I hope they didn't take it personally or take it too hard, because it was just a simple critique of Singapore, which was not good enough.”

Meanwhile, Williams have unveiled a one-off livery for the U.S. GP at Austin channeling vibes from its car from the 2002 season.

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