The father of F1 star Carlos Sainz flipped his car during the Dakar Rally and had to be rescued by a team-mate. The incident occurred in Saudi Arabia, with Sainz Snr almost an hour off the pace as a result.

Sainz Snr, who shares his first name with his son, is an iconic figure in motorsport, having won two World Rally Championships and four Dakar Rally titles throughout his career.

But the 62-year-old’s day didn’t go to plan in the first part of the Dakar Rally’s 48-hour stage on Sunday.

Sainz’s Ford Raptor rolled over just after midday in Bisha after the Spaniard had attempted to navigate a sandy area at the exit of the dunes.

The incident, which occurred 327km into the near-1000km Stage 2, left the driver stranded in the desert and he had to wait for his Ford team-mate Mitch Guthrie Jr to arrive on the scene to offer assistance.

Sainz had crossed the previous checkpoint in 15th position after starting the second test of the year in eighth place. He was able to resume after being helped by Guthrie, with the episode costing him a total of 23 minutes.

Footage of the incident was shared to X (formerly Twitter) by Dakar Rally organisers, who wrote: “@CSainz_oficial flipped his Ford Raptor at km 327!

“Thankfully, the crew is unharmed and managed to get back on track, but the car took some heavy damage.”

Sainz Snr is well aware of the dangers of rally driving after fracturing two vertebrae in a horror crash during the Dakar Rally two years ago.

But he went on to claim the fourth of his Dakar Rally titles last year alongside co-driver Lucas Cruz.

And following the triumph, his son said: “I asked him not to race hard every day because at the end of the day the Dakar is an endurance race and he likes to race a lot.

“He had to race a lot to win, but he was smarter than anyone else and managed the race as only he knows how. The Dakar was perfect, he did the smartest Dakar I’ve ever seen him do in my life. He managed it perfectly and showed that he also has experience.

“It has been a very long Dakar – a very hard Dakar – with all kinds of terrain, all kinds of stages, some new ones like the 48-hour stage, the marathon that was there.

“There has been everything and he has been able to get through it all. In the key stages is also where he has done the best and that shows you that he has come very well prepared, very motivated – and they have nailed it.”