The footage appears to show Sainz passing seven trackside panels displaying blue warnings in the moments before he moved across the McLaren at Turn 2 on Lap 38 of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
More significantly, the accompanying radio reveals Williams directly warned Sainz that Piastri was approaching before the contact that cost the Australian the lead of the race.
Sainz passed three flashing blue panels towards the end of the previous lap before encountering another two along the pit straight as Piastri closed rapidly behind him.
“Come on, there’s plenty of blues,” Piastri said over the radio.
Williams then delivered a clear warning to Sainz as he approached Turn 1.
“Blue flag of Piastri,” the team told him.
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Sainz passed another blue panel on the exit of the opening corner and a further warning approaching Turn 2, where he was battling Fernando Alonso near the rear of the field.
Piastri attempted to pass around the outside, but Sainz moved back towards the racing line and made wheel-to-wheel contact with the McLaren, sending the Australian briefly onto the grass.
Sainz immediately told Williams he had been unaware Piastri was alongside him.
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“I had no idea Piastri was there. No idea,” he said.
The Spaniard continued to maintain after the race that he had not expected Piastri to attempt the move, pointing to problems with the electronic blue-flag system at the Hungaroring.
“We didn’t have blue lights on the steering wheel, which normally, when we are in fights like that one, where we are fighting for position, it helps us to understand whether we’re getting lapped or not,” Sainz said.
“So at this stage, I had no idea I was about to get lapped, and on top of that, yeah, I was in a big fight with Fernando, trying to undercut him into the corner, and I wouldn’t have expected Oscar to be there.
“And even if he was there, he was in my dead spot on the angle, so it was impossible, honestly, from my side to avoid it.
“So better communication would have helped, but at the same time, it was a racing thing that sometimes happens.”
Several drivers reported difficulties with the electronic system during the race, with the usual steering-wheel warnings either missing or failing to identify which car was being shown the blue flag.
Oliver Bearman said the repeated warnings made it difficult to determine whether the instruction applied to him or another driver, leaving teams responsible for providing clearer information over the radio.
However, the newly circulated footage shows the marshal-operated light panels were displaying blue warnings as Piastri approached, while the Williams radio confirms Sainz had been specifically informed that the McLaren was behind him.
That communication was also acknowledged in the stewards’ decision after the race.
The stewards found Sainz “wholly responsible” for the collision and noted that he “had been informed that Car 81 [Piastri] was approaching” before handing him a five-second penalty.
The standard punishment for causing a collision is 10 seconds, but the penalty was reduced because Piastri was not visible in Sainz’s mirrors immediately before the attempted pass.
“At the point of the incident, the positioning of Car 55 relative to the circuit and the other cars meant that Car 81 was not visible to the driver of Car 55 prior to the attempted overtake,” the stewards said.
“Although the driver had been informed that Car 81 was approaching, the Stewards accepted that the limited visibility reduced the degree of culpability.”
Sainz later referred to the malfunction in a post on X, writing: “I had a strong race, but there was an issue with the blue flag system. Oscar appeared in my blind spot when battling Fernando and we touched.”
The post subsequently received a Community Note, a crowdsourced annotation used by X to add context or corrections beneath potentially misleading posts.
🇭🇺 Estaba siendo buena carrera, pero falló el sistema de banderas azules. Oscar estaba en mi ángulo muerto cuando luchaba con Fernando y nos hemos tocado. Luego perdí terreno por sanción y la doble parada con VSC. Muchos deberes, volveremos más fuertes!
👉https://t.co/DvWRYnXhgG pic.twitter.com/IQDGIOXfrc
— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) July 26, 2026
“The FIA stewards determined that the team informed Sainz of the blue flags for car 81 and held him fully responsible for the collision, applying a five-second penalty despite a mitigating factor of limited visibility,” the note stated.
Sainz is yet to publicly apologise to Piastri for the incident, with footage emerging from a media pen interview in which he seemingly dismissed the suggestion that he needed to speak with the Australian after the race.
Asked whether he would approach Piastri, Sainz replied: “No man…I don’t need to talk…it’s racing”.
Piastri had made his feelings clear immediately after the contact.
“Get out of the way, you fucking idiot. Oh my god!” he said over the radio.
The Australian later rejected the system malfunction as an acceptable explanation, arguing that the trackside warnings and the proximity of his McLaren should have made the situation clear.
“For me, there’s no excuse at all,” Piastri said.
“That’s got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen on a race track.
“I don’t really care what excuse you give.”
Piastri had led since the opening lap and appeared on course to retain his advantage over teammate Lando Norris following his second pit stop before the collision cost him crucial time.
Norris stopped on the following lap and returned to the circuit ahead, eventually securing McLaren’s first victory of the season.
Piastri remained on course to finish second before a gearbox failure ended his race on Lap 56, leaving him without a point after leading for more than half the grand prix.
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