Sainz: "very difficult" to be convinced Middle East finale will go ahead
Williams driver and GPDA director Carlos Sainz said in Austin it is hard to be sure that the Qatar and Abu Dhabi races will happen. He spoke personally, not for the drivers' association, and said drivers will follow the decision of the FIA and Formula 1.
A cautious voice in the paddock
A day after the FIA president insisted the season will end in the Middle East, one of the sport's most senior drivers struck a more careful note. On Thursday 22 October, at the first press conference of United States Grand Prix week, Carlos Sainz said it is "very difficult to be convinced right now" that the Qatar and Abu Dhabi rounds will go ahead.
Sainz was one of three drivers asked about the issue, together with Oscar Piastri and Isack Hadjar. According to The Race, he first passed the microphone along with a joke before giving his answer.
What he said, and what he did not
Sainz called it relatively premature to be so certain, pointing to events in the region and to the United States midterm elections on 3 November, which Crash.net and The Race both mention as a possible turning point. Crash.net quotes him saying the world can change a lot in the next month and a half.
He stressed that this was his personal view. Sainz is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, but he said he was not speaking for it. According to Autosport and The Race, he added that the drivers do not have the political information and contacts that Formula 1 and the FIA have, so they have to go with whatever those bodies decide once a race is judged safe.
The other two drivers took a similar line. Piastri said he trusts the series and the FIA, while Hadjar said the matter is out of his control. The Race also reports that Franco Colapinto said he is comfortable with whatever is decided.
The calendar behind the question
The final two rounds are due in late November and in early December, according to Autosport, which also notes that Formula 1 has a contingency plan to run an alternative finale at Imola on the Abu Dhabi weekend. Crash.net points to the wider conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran and to attacks on Saudi Arabia as the backdrop. On Tuesday the FIA president said the two races "are going to happen".
By the numbers
Sainz is not in the title fight. Our data shows him 18th in the championship on 7 points after 17 of 23 rounds, with a best finish of ninth, which he has managed three times. He was 14th in Singapore. Williams is far from the front, but his voice carries as a GPDA director.
The next race is the United States Grand Prix in Austin, which starts on 25 October at 20:00 UTC.
