Carlos Sainz has accused Formula One of showing shots of drivers’ girlfriends during races at the expense of the on-track action.
The Williams driver spoke out after television viewers missed some key incidents – including several of his and others’ overtakes – during Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Rebecca Donaldson, Sainz’smodel girlfriend, was shown during a race in which he finished 10th after starting 18th on the grid.
By contrast, none of his passing moves on Lance Stroll, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Yuki Tsunoda or Isack Hadjar were featured.
Magui Corceiro, Lando Norris’ girlfriend, was also shown during the race as was Alexandra Saint Mleux, partner of the Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
Speaking to Spanish radio station El Partidazo de COPE, Sainz said: “It’s becoming a bit of a trend, which must have worked for them at one time, when people found it interesting to see our girlfriends, to see famous people on television, the reactions.
Rebecca Donaldson, partner of driver Carlos Sainz, is shown during the coverage of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix. Photo / Sky Sport
“I understand that if there is an overtake, a very tense moment in the race, it is understandable that the production team might want to show a reaction shot, if they have seen that this has worked in the past, but only if the competition is respected and you are always showing the important moments of the race.”
The television broadcast also failed to cover a dramatic dogfight between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso after showing McLaren’s celebrations after they retained the constructors’ world title.
Sainz added: “Last weekend, they didn’t show any of the four or five overtakes I did at the end, nor did they show Fernando’s pursuit of Lewis, they missed a lot of things. The other [showing the off-track things] is fine, but don’t lose sight of the main thing. For me, they go overboard a little by showing the celebrities and girlfriends.”
Margarida Corceiro, partner of driver Lando Norris, is shown during the coverage of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix. Photo / Sky Sport
Alonso crossed the line less than a second behind Hamilton, who encountered issues with his brakes in the closing laps and was later demoted from seventh to eighth place after receiving a five-second penalty.
That was after Alonso ranted to his race engineer: “F****** hell mate, I cannot believe it. I cannot f****** believe it. I cannot f******believe it. I mean, I cannot f****** believe it. I cannot f****** believe it. Is it safe to drive with no brakes? It should be f****** P7, you cannot drive like you are alone on track.”
Broadcasters such as Sky Sports take their race footage from F1’s world feed, but do offer on-board cameras from which viewers can watch uninterrupted live action.
Formula One declined to comment, but a source told Telegraph Sport it prided itself on giving the best possible broadcast product to all of its fans around the world in a very complex, high-paced environment.
