Carlos Sainz isn’t back‑pedalling on his criticism of Singapore’s TV direction — he’s just stripping out the headline bait.
After the Marina Bay race, Sainz called out the world feed for cutting away from on-track battles to reaction shots in the garages and, yes, the partners’ pen. That last point lit up social media, but the Spaniard says the “girlfriends/WAGs” line became the story when the actual gripe was simpler: the broadcast missed the racing.
“My point got blown up because of the wording,” Sainz told reporters. “It should’ve been a straightforward critique: Singapore’s broadcast wasn’t good enough.”
He’s not alone in thinking the pictures didn’t match the action. Across the 62-lap slog, there were roughly a dozen-and-a-half moments where the feed ditched live fights to linger on pit walls, mechanics, or family reactions. In a race where overtakes are precious and every scrap matters, that stung. Fans weren’t the only ones watching replays to catch what they missed.
To be clear, Sainz isn’t declaring a trend or waging war on the TV truck. He framed it as a one-off off day from a team that often nails it. “There are weekends where they do an incredible job,” he said. “Singapore just wasn’t one of them.”
He also clarified what he felt the cameras were chasing: drama that never arrived at the front. “They were very focused on Lando, on Max — like there was going to be an accident or an overtake,” Sainz said. “When you look at it, there was never going to be action.” Meanwhile, the midfield skirmishes — the sort of sequences that decide strategies, points and reputations — slipped by half-seen.
There’s an unavoidable tension in F1’s world feed. The show has to tell a global story in real time, second-guessing where an overtake might happen while covering leaders, teams, and stakes. At street tracks like Marina Bay, where passing is difficult and tyre life dictates pace, the temptation to cut to faces and reactions is always there. Sometimes it helps the narrative; sometimes it just gets in the way of the race.
Drivers rarely wade into TV direction, which is why Sainz’s comments resonated. There’s no malice in the message — he even stressed he hopes no one took it personally — but there is a request: keep the lens on the live fights, especially when overtakes are at a premium.
He likened it to a driver’s form. Some weekends are tens out of ten; some aren’t. Broadcasters are the same. “It’s fair to say Singapore missed too much track action,” he noted, “but it doesn’t mean they don’t usually do a great job.”
In other words, not a crusade. Just a call for the pictures to keep up with the pace. On a night race that thrives on tension and tiny margins, the racing — not the reaction shots — should be the star.
