The collision

On lap 38 of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri was attempting to lap Carlos Sainz's Williams when the two made contact at Turn 2. Piastri had pitted from the lead on lap 32 and was working his way back through the field. Sainz was engaged in a battle with Fernando Alonso for 16th place. An automated blue flag system failure meant the usual dashboard warnings did not appear for Sainz, and race control relied on marshals waving flags and manually activating light panels. Sainz later said he had no idea Piastri was behind him.

“The system wasn't working and we didn't know, because the steering wheel normally warns us and today nothing, and on top of that the team didn't warn me much either.”

The stewards handed Sainz a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.

Piastri's fury

Piastri was incensed over the radio immediately after the incident.

“Is he f****** stupid or what? Get out of the f****** way, you idiot!”

Speaking to reporters later, the Australian called the lack of awareness unacceptable. He noted that blue flags were displayed on marshal signals and he had been right behind Sainz for a sector.

“I couldn't believe what happened. Getting crashed into by a lapped car is never one of the things you expect that can go wrong in your race, and today it was, so I don't really care if he didn't see me. The fact that he didn't and no one told him, or there was a lack of complete awareness, is unacceptable.”

Piastri also directed criticism at Sainz's driving standards, suggesting the Spaniard should reflect on his own actions.

“He's quite critical of others. Others have criticized him before for being frustrating on track. When you do something like this, I think you should reflect a little on yourself.”

Race outcome

The collision cost Piastri crucial seconds. As he recovered, teammate Lando Norris emerged from his own pit stop just ahead of the Australian. Norris pulled away and went on to take his first race victory of 2026. Piastri's race ended prematurely with a gearbox failure with 14 laps remaining, having been running second behind Norris.

Sainz's difficult weekend

Sainz described his first half of the 2026 season as deeply disappointing. He said there was very little more he could extract from the Williams car.

“Bad, very bad, disappointing, I think far below expectations and where we want to be as a team.”

He also pointed to an unnecessary pit stop under the virtual safety car that dropped him behind Oliver Bearman and Alex Albon. Sainz hopes a planned upgrade for the Baku race will help the team become more competitive in the second half of the season.