Why Sainz is racing in fear of ‘a very big crash’ in F1

Carlos Sainz has issued a chilling warning that cuts through the noise of Formula 1’s new era, with the Williams charger fearing the sport may be hurtling toward a high-speed disaster of its own making.

While fans marvel at the sport’s new technical era, Sainz is sounding a chilling alarm: F1’s new energy management regulations aren't just a headache for engineers – they are a burgeoning safety crisis waiting to happen at 340 km/h.

At the heart of the concern is “Straight Mode”, a setting that that allows a car to run with significantly reduced downforce on the straights thanks to front and rear wings’ active aerodynamics.

A recipe for high-speed disaster

On paper, it’s innovation. On track, Sainz sees something far more sinister.

“SM is a plaster on top of a plaster,” he warned bluntly, dismissing the system as a temporary fix masking deeper flaws.

But it’s what comes next that sends a chill through the Spaniard’s spine.

“Racing with your wings open on the straights at 340 km/h, sooner rather than later, there’s going to be a big crash at very high speeds in tracks with little kinks,” he said, pinpointing Melbourne, where F1 has already raced this season, and Jeddah which the sport will bypass.

Still those “little kinks” which are also present at other tracks are anything but insignificant. At circuits where high-speed corners blur into straights, the margin for error shrinks to almost nothing.

One misjudgment, one unexpected lift or one car in the wrong mode at the wrong time, and the consequences could be catastrophic.

“Places like Jeddah, with open wings… I don’t like it,” he added.

“I don’t like having to race flat out at 340 km/h with no downforce in the car and the wings open, especially at those kinds of tracks. [In China] a straight line is fine. But in the other kind of tracks, it’s not good.

“SM is the plaster to a very energy-demanding circuit and car.”

A quick fix. A fragile solution. And, in his view, one that could fail under pressure.

A chain reaction no one can control

Over at Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson is witnessing the same danger unfold from within the pack.

While teams are currently making independent decisions on when to deploy or harvest energy, that lack of uniformity is creating unpredictable – and very dangerous – speed differences.

"I mean, at the moment, it's sort of very inconsistent,” the Kiwi explained.

"We're doing lot. We obviously make our own decisions on when we charge and deploy, and it's quite different between teams and engines."

In a sport where milliseconds matter, unpredictability at high speed becomes a serious threat. Lawson describes scenarios where drivers are left with nowhere to go:

"So, yeah, it obviously depends on what the FIA decide to do, but right now, there's a lot of differences that we have to be quite careful of because you can be having quite a good run on a car, and all of a sudden they start charging, and you're right behind them with SLM open,” he explained.

"It's not a lot you can do to avoid them."

Read also:

• Sainz: 'F1 is trying to sell something we all know isn’t right'

That final line lingers – because in Formula 1, a lack of options at 340 km/h is not just concerning. It’s dangerous.

So, the warnings are no longer subtle. They are direct, urgent, and growing louder with every race weekend. Drivers are not just questioning performance. They are questioning safety.

And now, the spotlight turns to the FIA. Will changes come before the system reaches its breaking point? Or will Formula 1 be forced to confront the consequences when it’s already too late?

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