Tension on the track: Carlos Sainz's Ferrari on fire due to an engine problem.

Carlos Sainz came close to the podium at Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix. However, a problem with his Ferrari engine ended the Spanish driver's aspirations. In fact, there was tension on the track because the pilot's car caught fire, causing him to abandon the race.

Sainz was running in third place, but was about to overtake the World Championship leader, Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who was second behind Monegasque Charles Leclerc, the Spaniard's teammate and race leader. The engine of the Madrid-born driver's Ferrari caught fire, quite literally, before the fourth of the ten curves of the Austrian circuit.

The Formula 1 broadcast cameras focused on the Spaniard's car. The first flames appeared in the back and then spread throughout the vehicle. Meanwhile, Sainz tried to quickly get out of the monoposto, but it rolled back on its own. There was a lot of concern for the athlete's well-being.

After a few seconds, in which Carlos couldn't apply the brake to the Ferrari, he was able to get out of the car. Then, the 27-year-old Madrid-born driver walked away and sat on the side of the track, watching the firefighters extinguish the fire with extinguishers in hand. At the same time, the members of the red team lamented what had happened.

In this way, Carlos Sainz, who won last week at Silverstone, had to abandon the Austrian Grand Prix, the eleventh race of the Formula One World Championship, with fifteen laps to go (a total of 72) when he was seemingly heading for a secure second place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.

Ferrari celebrated

Monegasque Charles Leclerc won the Austrian GP and relegated Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), the championship leader, to second place; while seven-time world champion Englishman Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) finished third.

Verstappen - like 24-year-old Leclerc - who set the fastest lap in the race, remains the championship leader with 208 points, 38 more than Ferrari's Monegasque driver, who took second place in the championship from 'Checo' Pérez, who is now third with 151. Sainz, who also did not score this Sunday, remains fourth with 133.