Sitting in the McLaren garage, as if he were just another engineer, Carlos Sainz was carefully observing the screen in his garage where the rest of the drivers on the grid parked in their position on the grid. The seventh, where he should be, was orphaned due to a breakdown. Fortune had once again ripped the smile from his face. During the formation lap, with barely half an hour to go before the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, his power unit suffered a failure that ended up leading to leaks. There was no time to find a solution. So Sainz had no choice but to bite his lip and watch the race sitting in the team box.

Sainz completed two laps until his MCL35 broke his spirits. "There is no way to repair the fault in time," they told him minutes before flying through the Ardennes forest. His hopes of scratching a handful of points and continuing Montmeló's streak were frayed by a setback impossible to tackle. "Unfortunately, Sainz will not start at the Belgian Grand Prix after an exhaust failure on his way to the starting grid," McLaren officially announced.

Another new setback this season, where the Spanish does not stop dodging misfortunes in his last days with the British team. And it is that in this strange 2020, Sainz has had everything. In Austria , the second round of the course, he lost eight seconds in an incomprehensible pitstop, which ruined an exciting race, as he started from third position on the grid. Then came Hungary , where another untimely stop blurred his options. And from Silverstone , on two occasions, and for two different reasons, he left empty. He first blew out a tire while flying in fourth position and, on the next visit, he was lost again in the pits.

And now, again the old Spa has left him without comfort. Because a year ago, another problem with the engine put him out of the race on the first lap. As if someone from one of the trees in the Ardennes had cast an evil eye on him. It is difficult to find a rational explanation. Meanwhile, his teammate Lando Norris was fighting the other McLaren to keep scratching points for his cause.

Sainz leaves empty for the third time this season, interrupting that flight that seemed to start in Montmeló with those eight points from two weeks ago. Of course, despite the disgust, he did not miss the memory of Anthoine Hubert , who died there a year ago, in a GP2 race, or the fight against racism. In at least a week he can try to get even at Monza.

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