It was almost a year ago that Carlos Sainz, after months of speculation about his future, announced that he would be headed to Williams for the 2025 F1 season and beyond.
Given Williams’ performance record in recent years, not many would have expected Sainz to move there after his successful stints at top teams McLaren and Ferrari.
However, Sainz has committed to a future at the Grove-based outfit, where he is working with a team that has a rich and successful history in F1, to try and get them back towards the top.
In a print media session ahead of the British GP, Sainz reflected on the first half of the year at Williams and looked ahead to the future.
Sainz notes that for him, one of the key elements has been performance, which he notes is so good that the performance of the FW47 has even exceeded his expectations. The team sits P5 in the Constructors’ Championship at present.
“I think for me, the number one thing has always been performance, and the performance is there.
“I see good things coming, and this year’s car performance, if anything, has exceeded my expectations of what I thought Williams could deliver for 2025.”
Execution is an area Williams needs to improve.
While the car may have exceeded expectations, Sainz still experienced a tricky start to his tenure at Williams.
The Spaniard currently sits in P15 in the Drivers’ Championship, having scored only 13 points since the start of the season.
Sainz believes that part of the reason for the comparatively low points haul is that Williams struggles to put everything together in terms of execution throughout a F1 weekend.
The 30-year-old is working with the team to improve in that area and is confident that the team is on the right path.
“If we would be putting things together now, I think we could be both drivers, P8, P9, or P7, P8 in the drivers’ championship and pulling away.
“But we are not ready yet to execute weekends in that manner, so we are both getting the teams for the team that the team deserves, or the car deserves.
“I’m not worried because I know every member of the team knows this, and we are all working on putting things together.
“Even if now, at present, everything looks extremely frustrating and difficult to handle.
“It’s been 12 races where there’s been a lot of ups and downs, but I’m confident on the trajectory we’re on and where we’re heading.”
Higher workload for Sainz at Williams
Sainz also notes that, compared to other teams he has driven for in the past, his move to Williams brought an increased workload that he had not previously experienced.
The driver from Madrid cites a lack of tools that still need to be developed as a reason for the increased work effort he needs to put in.
Essential groundwork at Williams, Sainz doesn’t shy away from, and is looking forward to seeing pay dividends on track in the future.
“Yeah, well, the workload is obviously higher than with any other team that I’ve been to.
“Just because there’s still a lot of things that, or a lot of tools that we’re lacking, that we’re trying to develop, and a lot of things that we still obviously need the drivers to be involved.
“We don’t have the whole setup as I used to have in Ferrari with the simulator, with the reserve drivers, with all the simulation tools that the team could have.
“That involves a lot more of the driver time to do things, so it’s also obviously a high working load year for me as a driver, which I’m here for that.
“Williams also hired me for that capability that I have to help on those areas.
“I enjoy that side of my job and I’m keen to see the results come through in the future.”
Hard work will ultimately pay off
Looking ahead, Sainz is confident that the hard work will pay off and that the results will follow.
“I’m confident the results are going to come at some point.
“I don’t know when.
“It might be after summer break and the rest of the season, or it might be for the last quarter of the season, or it might be for next year.
“But I’m very confident about the work we’re doing back at base and the work we’re doing at the racetrack to improve the race team.
“To know that at some point all this work is going to pay off and we’re going to stop and start forgetting about all the issues that we’re currently having.”
