Williams driver Carlos Sainz reflects on a peculiar weekend in Shanghai. The Spaniard managed to secure – with a bit of luck – one point for the British racing team, but he is far from satisfied with his new vehicle. While teammate Alex Albon seemed to benefit from some adjustments to the FW47’s setup, Sainz laments one of the most significant ‘performance swings’ he has ever experienced.
Carlos Sainz scored his first World Championship point in Williams colours during the Chinese GP, although this was also due to the disqualifications of former teammate Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Pierre Gasly. Initially crossing the finish line in thirteenth place, he moved up to tenth. Starting from the fifteenth position, Sainz visibly struggled to make up places during the race. His pace was promising in the lead-up to the new season, but after two Grands Prix, he can’t pinpoint where that speed has gone.
“We had the strategy right, but unfortunately, the car’s pace was not up to par,” Sainz responded after the race. “We just weren’t there, we had trouble with the front tyres again. It somewhat surprises me, as I was very fast in this car during the test days. I don’t understand where that pace has gone. Fortunately, we have ten days to analyse what went wrong and make a plan for a comeback in Japan.”
A ‘Fundamental Mistake’
It’s unusual for Carlos Sainz to struggle so much with adapting to a new Williams car. In the past, he has proven his ability to quickly adjust to new vehicles following transfers to Renault, McLaren, and Ferrari. “This is one of the strangest fluctuations in performance I’ve experienced in my career,” he lamented. “In Abu Dhabi, in Bahrain, and even during the first days in Australia, I was extremely fast, but now that pace seems to be slipping away from me. We’ve made a lot of changes to the car’s setup – Alex (Albon) seemed to benefit from it, but it didn’t help much on my side of the garage.”
“Of course, a sprint weekend doesn’t help either,” Sainz concluded. “I haven’t been able to test much. But this was my first full race distance with Williams, so I hope we’ve learned something. My gut feeling is that we’ve made a fundamental mistake, and we need to analyze that.”
