Carlos Sainz has described his latest collision with an F1 rival a result of "typical Monza" that resulted in a third blank weekend for the Williams driver.
Sainz was in the hunt for rare points this year following his winter move from Ferrari to Williams when he collided with the Haas of Oliver Bearman.
In trying to overtake, the Spanish driver was on the outside of the Briton on their approach to the second chicane. Believing he had the advantage in turning into the left-hand turn initially, Sainz pulled across Bearman, resulting in their accident.
Although both drivers were able to continue, it was an incident that cost Sainz heavily as he finished 11th at the chequered flag, less than sixth-tenths of a second behind 10th-placed Isack Hadjar and 14 seconds behind seventh-placed team-mate Alex Albon.
It was the second successive weekend for Sainz that he was involved in a collision. In the Dutch GP, he tangled with Liam Lawson in his Racing Bulls, earning a 10-second penalty and having two points added to his super licence. Williams is awaiting a right of review judgment from the FIA.
At Monza, Bearman was deemed at fault, with the stewards applying the same criteria as they did to Sainz at Zandvoort. In this case, it was that the front axle of Sainz's Williams was ahead of the front axle of the Haas of Bearman at the apex of the corner.
"I left a car's width on the inside, and I think that's why the stewards gave him a penalty," said Sainz, speaking to the media, and when asked about the collision by RacingNews365.
"I braked extremely late on the outside. I don't think the guy on the inside could have braked any later. I think he did and that's what created the collision.
"It's just a typical Monza incident. One of the two needs to back out. I was in front at the apex. He decided not to back out of the move and created a collision. Typical Monza."
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On reflection, Sainz feels starting on the wrong choice of tyre played its part in what ultimately unfolded. Williams opted to diverge with its drivers, with Albon on the hards from the beginning and Sainz on the mediums.
"Before the race, I had the feeling I wanted to start on the hard, but we decided to split strategies," said Sainz. "Obviously, with hindsight, it is clear what was the best option, but it is what it is. It's racing."
At the time of the incident with Bearman, Sainz felt he was "making a good comeback", adding, "We were the last of the medium starters, and I got stuck with the hard starters. I tried to extend the medium, making it look like a hard.
"Probably I was a bit on the back foot, but still committed to extending, so I was on the comeback on the hard, and just an incident with Ollie, which was a shame."
Sainz's frustration was naturally evident, however, as he said: "I cannot count the amount of times this year I have been in a collision with another driver.
"I was fighting for good points, then that happened. The car got damaged and I couldn't make it back."
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