Sainz slams TV cuts to “girlfriends and celebs” after Singapore fightback goes missing
Carlos Sainz carved his way from the back to P10 under the lights in Singapore — and then watched a chunk of it fail to make the world feed.
The Williams driver says four, maybe five of his late-race passes never made it to air as the broadcast repeatedly cut to reaction shots of partners and VIPs, a trend he believes has drifted too far from the core product: the racing.
“It’s becoming a bit of a trend,” Sainz told El Partidazo de COPE after the race. “I get that if there’s an overtake or a tense moment, you might show a reaction shot if it’s worked in the past. But only if the competition is respected and you’re always showing the important moments.”
Singapore gave him the perfect case study. Thrown to the back by Williams’ qualifying disqualification — the rear wing DRS slot gap exceeded the 85mm limit — Sainz mounted a sharp, late charge that was largely invisible to those at home. He wasn’t the only one. Fernando Alonso’s pursuit of a wounded Lewis Hamilton, who was nursing brake troubles, also slipped through the gaps.
“Over the weekend they didn’t show any of the four or five overtakes I made at the end, nor did they show Fernando’s pursuit of Lewis,” Sainz said. “You miss the most important things. For me, they exaggerate a little with the celebrities and girlfriends.”
He has a point. Sunday’s edit leaned hard on cutaways to partners — including Sainz’s partner Rebecca Donaldson, Charles Leclerc’s Alexandra Saint Mleux, and Magui Corceiro, who dates Lando Norris — and a carousel of famous faces in hospitality, complete with captions. Meanwhile, significant midfield action and the unfolding Hamilton drama occasionally lived off-screen.
In fairness, the front of the race demanded attention. Max Verstappen and Lando Norris scrapped for second, while McLaren’s victory lap — literally — took precedence post-flag as Oscar Piastri and Norris cruised back to the pits celebrating what the team marked as a second straight Constructors’ Championship. Hamilton’s wayward final tour wasn’t shown in real time.
FOM, for its part, pushed back on the idea that priorities had shifted away from the on-track story. “We always focus on giving our fans the best possible footage of the race and never compromise the key focus – the racing on track,” a spokesperson told PlanetF1.com. “Our team does a great job of covering a highly complex situation with multiple cars at different points on a track and also provides great context moments of the grandstands, high-profile guests, and the locations we race at. We are always in pursuit of excellence and improvement in what we deliver.”
Privately, there’s been no brief to cram more celebrity into the show; the paddock has always shared the frame with the grid. But the balance is fine, and Sainz isn’t the first driver to feel it’s been off lately. When the story is happening in the midfield — especially on a street circuit where overtakes are won with risk and guile — missing them stings.
Sainz also pointed a finger at life off-camera, where access has exploded. “If you don’t ride a bike or scooter, you can’t even move,” he said of the paddock crush. “Years ago, the paddock lacked atmosphere, and I prefer it now, but it’s true that people should be reminded to be careful when asking for photos because they are working.”
That’s the modern F1 dilemma in two neat lines: the sport wants the glitz — it’s good for business, attracts new eyeballs, and sells the scale of these events — but not at the cost of burying the bits that keep the purists invested. Sunday showed how easy it is to slide from context to distraction.
Sainz’s message is simple: by all means, show the theater, just don’t miss the plot.
