F1 Austrian Grand Prix DELAYED after shocking pre-race incident sees car burst into flames

The 2025 F1 Austrian Grand Prix has been delayed after a shocking incident at the Red Bull Ring before lights out.

When the 20 drivers on the grid set off on their formation lap on Sunday, Williams star Carlos Sainz was unable to get away, leading to an aborted start.

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The Spaniard took to team radio to declare that his Williams was stuck in first gear, reporting: "Something is stopping the car from moving forward or it's stuck."

After a considerable delay, Sainz set off on his formation lap having received a push from the marshals, causing chaos as polesitter Lando Norris appeared on the horizon having completed his lap.

Sky F1's Ted Kravitz criticised the FIA's inaction over the incident, saying: "They wasted 30 seconds trying to get this car started."

Sainz managed to bring his FW47 into the pits, but as the track temperature soared, his car swiftly burst into flames as smoke bellowed out of the rear of his machinery.

As a result of the incident, the formation lap was delayed for 15 minutes, and sadly for Williams, Sainz was forced to retire from the race.

Williams in double disaster at Austrian GP

Sainz would have likely believed that his luck couldn't get much worse in Spielberg, finding himself in yet another Q1 exit during Saturday's qualifying.

The 30-year-old described his Williams as 'undriveable' over team radio ahead of Sunday's race, but even lining up P19 at the Red Bull Ring could have given Sainz a fighting chance.

Finishing in the points would have been a tough task for Sainz but having now been ruled out of the 11th round of the championship, it leaves him and Williams with plenty of questions ahead of their team's home race at Silverstone next time out.

To make matters worse for James Vowles' outfit, their only remaining driver, Alex Albon, was also forced to retire from the grand prix after just 17 laps and an immensely chaotic race start.

In short, the Austrian GP brought nothing but disaster for Williams.

READ MORE: Why is Martin Brundle absent from F1 Austrian Grand Prix?

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