Carlos Sainz did not even belong to this discussion. Motorsport however does not operate on should ofs and definitely not Formula 1. One that started on the wrong foot, proceeded on the more wrong foot, and ended as a nightmare, in regards to Williams the Austrian GP was a dream gone horribly wrong.

Things were not quite right ever since the weekend began. Sainz who is normally composed and strategic appeared to be frustrated during qualifying. A P19 starting position, brake problems, and a lot of down force which disappeared mysteriously and ensured a difficult Sunday. He also was not short of words. Probably we picked up something on the floor… We lost a lot of down force, I do not know where but we lost down force,” he said talking as a man preparing to accept the worst thing. Still, what occurred on Sunday had an annoying sting to it.

When you finish your race and the lights have not yet turned off, there is a major flaw. This is what took place. His vehicle refused to move during the formation lap, and when restarted the rear breaks stuck into flame valourly as he pulled up to the pit lane. By the flames he read the story, game over. No glory, no tactics to analyse, no longing as to a pit stop. All that it takes is a barbaric conclusion at the mass start.

The worst thing is that he was not alone. HIS TEAM MATE, Alex Albon, also did not make it through to the finish. A two DNF to Williams. A garage with question marks. A team in the search of answers that it could not get in weeks. Break? Break Problems, engine problems, overheating, Sainz had a lot to say after the race in talking to DAZN. We already have loaded several weekends with brake trouble, engine trouble, overheating… We are weak in that way a bit sometimes, he admitted, in a tone which was disappointed but defiant.

The final phrase, the mention of being that way a little bit weak, stings a bit more than it may sound. Weakness in a sport where the ability to gain marginal advantage is the decisive factor is not only penalized, it is revealed. And now we are having atom bombs race against race when Williams is being exposed race after race. Reliability problems can not be concealed. There is no PR ideal that will cover flaming brakes.

What is however refreshing is the realism. Sainz, as always a professional, is not hucking people under the bus. He is frustrated, of course. Behind the fatigue, there is just an optimism. All this bad luck must one day come to an end, he said (he added not as an afterthought but like a man who holds on to the one thing he can control in his life: belief).

One gets the feeling that in the Williams camp, that is what they are clinging on to. Since the moment when both cars are out in the track before the race had barely started, when qualifying is all about damage limitation, and when a formation lap is the whole problem, you need more than simple upgrades and data. You require toughness.

Austria was not a miserable day, it was a miserable chapter in what has been a season of adversity. However, as all experienced racers would tell you, the thing about racing is that it never fails to provide you with another opportunity. Another weekend. Another track. This is the second attempt at doing it. So Sainz and Williams will get their work cut out but they will reappear. Huh, that is what racers do. They bite their teeth, they learn and then they fight back.

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