Another double points finish for Williams. However, Spanish driver Carlos Sainz is unhappy with the points which the team are continuing to let slip away – on his side of the garage. Sainz says Williams cannot be happy with P8 F1 Imola GP finish.
Sainz’ pace is not getting its reward
Williams have been fast all year long and Sainz is clearly finding his feet in the team and now showing the pace he is known for. Even so, come race day Sainz’ pace is not getting its reward and this is something which the Williams racer is not happy with. As shown in his post-race remarks in the print media pen in Imola.
“I think we cannot be happy with P8″
Proceedings began with Carlos Sainz being asked after the F1 Imola GP if he was happy and had a good day.
“Obviously not, no,” came the straightforward reply. “I think we cannot be happy with P8, even though at one stage of my race I was P15 and I didn’t even think we were going to get points. But I did a good comeback from there, we just didn’t execute that good Sunday yet again.”
The sentence concluding with ‘yet again’ was telling. This is due to the fact that Miami had also seen Sainz not maximise opportunities due to miscommunication over the radio.
“Second time in a row,” he continued. “I think that we let go away a lot of points on Sunday after being in a very strong position after the first few laps, attacking and being quicker than the Astron and the Mercedes in front.”
The decision to pit Sainz early at F1 Imola GP
One of the issues Sainz faced in the F1 Imola GP was the decision to pit early. Something that did not go down well with the Spanish driver. Williams put him in the early stoppers group as they joined George Russell, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in trying to react to Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver got ahead. As well as that, they found themselves trying to clear a lot of traffic.
“I don’t know if we overreacted to Leclerc pitting or something, but we clearly boxed really, really early on my side of the garage. From then on, we were on an offset strategy that clearly wasn’t working and wasn’t going in our way.”
This is this is the year to make these mistakes
Williams’ latest signing to the team went on to explain how he is frustrated. This is because in his eyes this is not the first time and it’s costing the team a lot of points on Sundays. Even so, Sainz’ temperament also revealed once again what he brings to the team.
“But at the same time, I’ve always told the team this is the year to make these mistakes, to try and learn from them. At the same time, we need to make a step because we’re starting to give away too many points for my liking.”
Having picked up on the phrasing of Sainz in his recent remarks, he was then asked if it was a surprise to get the call to pit early. As Alex Albon showed, a one-stop was possible for both drivers with the pace and good deg of the FW47.
“If I’m very honest with you, pitting so early was never in the plan,” Sainz revealed. “There was no warning from no one to say we were going to box. So, when the box call came, I was very close to not boxing and disobeying. At the same time, I’m a team player and obviously a team has more info than what I have. So, I followed the order just in case there was something happening that I couldn’t see. It is true everyone was digging at that time, but normally a tyre always goes through a phase where they feel really poor and then they recover.”
“We need to improve the way we communicate”
Having joined Williams from Ferrari, the Spanish driver inevitably has been used to a certain way of doing things: “Clearly, we need to improve the way we communicate, the way we understand each other on Sundays because it’s always been a strength of mine that I need to build with the team.”
Sainz continued with an analysis of the set-up he is currently facing.
“Clearly, with this team it’s yet to be built and ingrained to make sure we execute Sundays a bit better,” stated the Williams driver. “Because with the speed that I had this weekend on Saturday, the speed that I had today in the race and came out of the weekend with only a P8 when you see Alex again in the top five with a normal plan, it’s very frustrating. Also, because it comes in a consecutive manner, so when it comes in a consecutive manner it’s very frustrating. But we’ll learn from it.”
Learning together
Williams is not fighting for any World Championships, but as Sainz said post-race, they look to be a team that has the potential to fight for race wins and championships in the future. Learning together and from past experiences will be key.
“It’s a very young team, a very young project, and we found Sunday in a very good position this year to be fighting World Championship teams, which is Mercedes-Ferrari. We were quicker than them in Miami, we were quicker than them today. We didn’t beat them in Miami, on my side, we didn’t beat them today, so we need to learn how to beat them because I was quicker all weekend than them.”
Confusion and frustration
Sainz’ remarks showed a balance of confusion and frustration. Not helped by the performance on the other side of the garage after a P5 finish for Alex Albon in Imola: “At the same time, we need to see progress this year and there’s already a lot of points that we’re giving up on my side on Sundays that for some reason on Alex’s side he’s doing really good on executing them.”
“We need to get better at is executing on the weekends”
Williams have been clear that their 2025 car is not going to be developed. However, it is also clear that the team as a whole is not fully extracting the potential of the package. Sainz concluded with what could be seen as a battle cry for his team
“The car that we have is good enough to be on par with Mercedes-Ferrari at some circuits like we saw in Miami and here. It’s not good enough for other circuits like Barcelona. You will see we will not be on the fight. Who knows in Monaco? We will see. But what we need to get better at is executing on the weekends. When we have a competitive car like in Miami or Imola make sure we get the top fives and the top fours that potentially we could have got today.
“I’m confident on that side given my experience also in that area I’m going to improve the team the same way that I’m improving the team in other areas but we need to make progress.”
Momentum matters
With a 24-race season, there are plenty of opportunities to make progress. The impact that this has on 2026 remains to be seen. One thing is always clear, momentum matters. This is something building at Williams courtesy of Albon. As such, Sainz fully expects to be matching his teammate and taking the Grove-based team to even loftier heights this year – and the next.
