Pit lane start confirmed for Singapore Sprint after late change made

Carlos Sainz will start the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint from the pit lane after Williams changed the suspension set-up on his car under parc ferme conditions.

The Spaniard qualified last for the Sprint at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, finishing P22 in a difficult Sprint qualifying session that saw both Williams drivers eliminated in SQ1.

Sainz endured a troubled session, having already experienced brake problems during Friday’s sole practice session. The 31-year-old explained that the team had made changes to address those issues, but admitted they were not ideal.

He also locked up at Turn 8 during his flying lap, further compromising his effort, while a loss of power left him frustrated with the final outcome.

Team-mate Alex Albon fared marginally better, qualifying P19 with a time of 1:36.130, while Sainz recorded a 1:37.376.

The pit lane start means Sainz will have a difficult task making progress in the 21-lap Sprint, although the additional running could provide Williams with useful information ahead of Saturday evening’s grand prix qualifying.

Sainz’s qualifying difficulties were compounded by an issue with Overtake Mode following the red flag in SQ1.

The session was interrupted after Sergio Perez crashed his Cadillac at Turn 5, with debris left on the circuit after the Mexican driver continued towards the pits.

The FIA subsequently acknowledged that a human error in race control meant Overtake Mode was not available immediately after the restart. The system was then activated for just 27 seconds before being disabled again, affecting cars depending on their position on track.

Sainz claimed the power disparity had cost him around half a second, with several other drivers also potentially disadvantaged. The FIA confirmed the incident was separate from a timing-system issue that had also disrupted the session.

Williams will now hope to make the most of the Sprint before the team turns its attention to grand prix qualifying.