Defending champion Carlos Sainz Sr has been forced to withdraw from the Dakar Rally 2025 after a big crash on the second stage of the event left his car with irreparable damage.

Sainz, the father of four-time grand prix winner and F1 2025 Williams star Carlos Sainz Jr, suffered a major accident in the opening stages of the 2025 Dakar Rally.

Carlos Sainz Sr withdraws from Dakar Rally after huge crash

The 62-year-old’s Ford Raptor rolled and landed on its roof after a jump 327 kilometres into the stage on Sunday, suffering damage to the car’s roll cage structure.

Sainz managed to finish the 48-hour stage on Monday, but the Spaniard has been prevented from taking any further part in the event due to the damage sustained in the crash.

Rules dictate that repairs cannot be made to the roll cage structure during the event, with the damage to Sainz’s roll cage exceeding the limit, meaning that a repeat accident could have risked serious consequences for driver and co-driver.

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A Ford statement read: “Due to the damage sustained to the safety cage of vehicle #225 during the accident in the first part of the 48-hour stage of the Dakar Rally 2025 and in accordance with FIA regulations, it has been decided to withdraw the vehicle.”

Sainz’s exit comes less than a year after the veteran secured a fourth Dakar Rally victory with Audi, bouncing back from a cracked vertebrae suffered in the 2023 event.

Sainz, who collected two drivers’ titles and 26 rally wins in a glittering career in the World Rally Championship, formed part of a star-studded entry list for the 2025 Dakar Rally with nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb and Mattias Ekstrom, a title winner in DTM and rallycross, also competing.

With Sainz Jr moving to Williams for the F1 2025 season, father and son enjoyed a special farewell test at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track following the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last month.

Both men circulated together on track behind the wheel of the F1-75, the car with which Sainz Jr claimed his maiden F1 victory at the 2022 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Speaking to a group of Ferrari staff following the test, Sainz Jr could not resist a quip about his father’s extraordinary 2024.

He said: “I want to thank you all. You cannot imagine [how much this means]. You have made a grandfather a very happy man today.

“This year, a 62-year-old grandfather tries a Ferrari and wins the Dakar.

“Thanks to you all and see you next year on track!”

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