Nothing means more to a driver than his home round, and for Carlos Sainz, the F1 Spanish GP was far from what he imagined. The race weekend at Barcelona was expected to be tricky for Williams. That proved to be the case.
Chaos from the beginning
Sainz knew from experience that the start would be chaotic. What he hadn’t expected was damage to both cars’ front wings on the opening lap.
“Yeah, chaos at the start, like expected when starting there. Then front wing damage for both cars.”
What frustrated the Spanish driver the most was having to cool his engine down when trying to race other cars in front. Sunday was one of those days when nothing went according to plan.
“Then a long pit stop out of the race intention really, but then every time we were somewhat like within two seconds of the car in front we were having to manage PU temperatures, so it’s one of those days where nothing seems to go your way.”
Amid the frustration, a bit of clarity
Aside from the starting incident, the team seemed to manage some good laps. Nevertheless, it was too late for them to try to join the competition. As Carlos Sainz stated, it was by far the most disappointing moment of the weekend.
“The little laps that we had in clean air, the pace was encouraging, matching the points finishers or better, but it was too late and we were too far back to get into any kind of contention, so disappointing.”
Carlos Sainz is optimistic for the next race: Canada. For Williams Racing driver, the team should be back in the battle for points. The Grove-based squad had achieved four straight points finishes before last weekend.
“But at the same time I feel like in Canada we should be back in the pace and back in fighting for normal positions.”
Barcelona hits harder
At his home Grand Prix, F1 Spanish GP, the disappointment was twofold for Sainz. Not just because of the result, but because it highlighted how much the team still has to learn on circuits like Barcelona.
Understanding how to set up the car and make it work on such a demanding track remains a challenge.
“At the same time it’s my home Grand Prix, so for everything to go wrong on your home Grand Prix is disappointing and shows that as a team we still have a lot to learn in tracks like Barcelona, to know where to set up the car, how to make it work in a track like this.”
He is aware that it’s now time to reflect and carefully analyse what could have been done better throughout the weekend. A race that leaves more questions than answers and a clear starting point for improvement, Carlos Sainz stated.
“So yeah, plenty to focus on, plenty to work around. Now we will go back and do our due diligence to see what we could have done better this weekend.”
Improvements required at certain tracks
Used to performing well in Barcelona and consistently scoring points at F1 Spanish GP, this weekend’s result was especially frustrating to Sainz. From qualifying onwards, nothing seemed to go their way, and the lack of pace was evident throughout.
“It’s a big disappointment as I’ve always been in the points in Barcelona and in my home Grand Prix I’ve always done well, but from qualifying until now honestly that weekend didn’t go our way and we need to just make sure we bounce back strongly in Canada.”
Despite everything, Carlos Sainz feels hopeful for the next Grand Prix. However, he remains focused on the team’s need to understand what’s causing the car to struggle at certain tracks, believing the Dutch GP will be a similar story.
“I think we have better weekends coming our way for sure. I think our next tough one will be Zandvoort. But at the same time I feel like we as a team need to make sure we understand why our car is weak in this sort of tracks and make sure that next year the car has less performance deviations between our good tracks and our bad tracks.”
McLaren showed strong performance in Barcelona as the MCL39 works on every type of track unlike other cars, such as the Williams in Spain.
“In the end you see McLaren is strong in Barcelona, but it’s not like they are weak in other tracks or vice versa, they just have another runner and this is what we need to look forward to.”
The support from the fans was the best part of the weekend
Of course, the support from the fans has been incredible, which makes a huge difference for any driver, Sainz added.
“The crowds were cool today, giving me massive support. Unfortunately it’s just not my year to be competing in Barcelona, but hopefully there will be a better days to come.”
