Carlos Sainz says he has been left puzzled by one of the biggest swings in performance of his career from the start of his time at Williams to the Chinese Grand Prix. Williams has enjoyed a strong start to 2025, with Alex Albon scoring a fifth and a …
Carlos Sainz says he has been left puzzled by one of the biggest swings in performance of his career from the start of his time at Williams to the Chinese Grand Prix.
Williams has enjoyed a strong start to 2025, with Alex Albon scoring a fifth and a seventh in the opening two rounds, helping the team match its 2024 points total already. Sainz, however, was unable to match his teammate in Shanghai, and despite being promoted to 10th by post-race disqualifications he says he has no idea of where his performance has gone after being so comfortable during pre-season.
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“We got it right with the strategy, unfortunately with the pace of the car, we were just not there,” Sainz said. “Struggling a lot with the front tires, again. A lot of fuel saving during the whole race, which obviously were not helping the fronts, and we just didn’t seem to have the pace.
“A bit puzzled, to be honest. Not happy, because ever since I jumped in this car, I’ve been very quick in testing, but I don’t know where all that pace has gone for this weekend. At least we have now a good ten days to analyze what went wrong and put together a plan to come back stronger in Japan.”
Sainz says he felt he had the pace to be on terms with Albon and get close to the car’s potential ever since he moved to Williams, but since crashing out early of the opening race he has struggled.
“It is one of the strangest swings of performance that I’ve had in my career, going from naturally and super-quick in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, even at the beginning of Australia, and then suddenly the pace just seemed to fall away from me.
“We did a lot of setup changes that on my side of the garage, followed really what Alex did, [both cars] were pretty similar. On his side, it seemed to respond well to a front graining, and he was a lot stronger. On my side, it didn’t seem to help much, and I stayed struggling with the graining.”
Despite reports in Spain that Sainz was running an older specification of chassis compared to Albon, RACER understands both drivers have the latest monocoque from Williams, with the team having modified last year’s design for this season.
As a result, Williams also has a spare chassis, unlike this time last season, and so Sainz will have the option to use a different chassis to the one he raced in Shanghai at the next round in Suzuka should he wish.
Alex Albon believes the arrival of Carlos Sainz at Williams will help him to better display his own talent level by removing the burden that came from being the benchmark himself as the team’s experienced driver. Sainz opted to join Williams for …
Alex Albon believes the arrival of Carlos Sainz at Williams will help him to better display his own talent level by removing the burden that came from being the benchmark himself as the team’s experienced driver.
Sainz opted to join Williams for 2025 after Ferrari signed Lewis Hamilton to replace him, the Spaniard making the move off the back of four victories for the Scuderia. Albon has been at Williams since 2022, partnering Nicholas Latifi in his first season and latterly Logan Sargeant and Franco Colapinto, and the 28-year-old believes Sainz will be the reference point he needs to cement his own reputation.
“I like it — it’s a great challenge,” Albon told RACER. “I think Carlos is coming in with a lot of pedigree. I think he’s had a fantastic season as well against Charles [Leclerc], who we know is an extremely strong driver.
“For myself, it’s great to be able to have someone who I can directly compare against. I feel like it’s always been a bit of a burden to me in some ways because I feel like no one really knows where I stand. I have that confidence in myself that I’m pretty good.”
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Albon admits his own experience of the Red Bull setup is likely to be usurped by Sainz’s more recent history at Ferrari, and thinks that will help push Williams as it looks to move forward in 2025 and ’26.
“I’m glad that Carlos is there … just what he brings to Williams is going to be really important to us,” he said. “That experience that he has, the knowledge of being in a top team like Ferrari that is performing well week in, week out.
“When I joined Williams from Red Bull, obviously there was a lot that I needed to give and wanted to give to improve the team. But I’ve now been in the team for three years and as much as I still push and put the team into a direction that I think is needed, having that fresh mindset into it, I think is only going to be helpful.
“For me as well, as a teammate, I think I’m going to be very open-eared — just wanting to hear what he has to say about the car, but also what direction he believes we need to go in.”
Williams has revealed the launch plans for its 2025 car, as the team begins its association with Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard, who joined Williams from Ferrari, was allowed to drive for his new team in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi last month. …
Williams has revealed the launch plans for its 2025 car, as the team begins its association with Carlos Sainz.
The Spaniard, who joined Williams from Ferrari, was allowed to drive for his new team in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi last month. Williams will launch its new car — the FW47 — at Silverstone on Feb. 14, but is saving the race livery for the F1 75 event at the O2 Arena in London four days later. Sainz says he’s been encouraged by the early signs since beginning work with the team.
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“It’s an important time for the team and we are all going to push to bring Williams back to the front of the grid as soon as possible,” Sainz said. “I was very impressed with the team back in Abu Dhabi. After a long year, it was great to watch the motivation and effort that everyone put in at such an important test.
“Thanks to that, we’ve been able to put together a solid plan and we have already started working on it to make sure we are as prepared as possible ahead of the pre-season test and first race. We’re not far away from the Silverstone car launch and I can’t wait to see my new ride! 2025 will be an exciting year and we are fully committed to putting together a strong season. Vamos!”
Team principal James Vowles says the focus has been on the new car for a significant period, with teams likely to want to switch attentions to the new regulations in 2026 as early as possible.
“There is a tremendous amount to look forward to for Williams in 2025 — we have fantastic race drivers in Alex [Albon] and Carlos, top engineers joining from across the grid and new facilities becoming operational at our Grove HQ,” Vowles said.
“As part of our comeback plan, we have been working on our 2025 car for some time and I can’t wait to see it at Silverstone on February 14. Everyone in the team is giving everything to get this team back where it belongs as we head towards the major rule changes for 2026. It’s going to be an exciting year.”
Williams follows Ferrari in confirming when it will unveil its actual race car for 2025, with Ferrari doing so on Feb. 19 in Maranello. The F1 75th season launch event in London on Feb, 18 will feature all 10 teams but they have only been mandated to unveil their race liveries at that time, and not the new cars themselves.
Carlos Sainz will be targeting a fifth Dakar Rally title when the 2025 edition plays out from Jan. 3-17 across Saudi Arabia’s rocky terrain and iconic sand dunes, and acknowledged he’s had to make some adjustments preparing for the world’s toughest …
Carlos Sainz will be targeting a fifth Dakar Rally title when the 2025 edition plays out from Jan. 3-17 across Saudi Arabia’s rocky terrain and iconic sand dunes, and acknowledged he’s had to make some adjustments preparing for the world’s toughest endurance race at the age of 62.
After winning two World Rally Championship titles in 1990 and ’92, Sainz — father of Formula 1 racer Carlos Sainz Jr. — has become a mainstay of the Dakar with four titles to his name in 2010, ’18, ’20 and ’24. “El Matador” returns in 2025 looking to add a record fifth win with a fifth different manufacturer, this time debuting a new Ford Raptor T1+. He will draw on a wealth of experience to navigate his way over the route that covers 7,759 kilometers/4,821 miles spread across 12 timed special stages from Bisha to the Empty Quarter desert.
Here is what the Madrid native had to say about the challenge ahead:
How do you prepare yourself physically for the unique challenges of the Dakar?
“Obviously with age, I’ve had to adapt my training program. I work with a team of professionals and they know me very well. The reality is that I’m working much more on fitness than I did when I was younger. These days I’m dedicating more time to the aerobic part of my preparation. I always say that I prefer to suffer at home, so I don’t suffer so much at the Dakar.”
A collaboration between Ford Performance and M-Sport, new Ford Raptor T1+ features Coyote-based 5.0 V8 engine and advanced suspension with adjustable Fox bypass dampers. Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
What helps you and co-driver Lucas Cruz make sense of the roadbook?
“We get the roadbook just a few minutes before we start the stage, not the day before like it used to be. It’s up to the co-drivers to have a good understanding of it and us drivers must help as much as possible. When we arrive to difficult places, we work together to find the right way.”
How did you win the 2024 Dakar without achieving a single stage win?
“To win the Dakar Rally you need to have a good strategy, plus you must be faster than the others. In 2024 the rally went well for us. The 48-hour Chrono stage was strategically important. We decided not to start that stage near the front and, for that, we lost some time on the previous day.
“So we had a good starting position and we won the first part of the 48-hour stage. On the second part, we got stuck in the dunes and lost some minutes. Sébastien Loeb ended up winning the stage, but we weren’t far behind in second. The rest was quite tricky, lots of high speed and difficult stages. We had a good fight with Seb until the penultimate stage.”
Can you elaborate more on the 48-hour Chrono stage, the Dakar Rally’s latest innovation?
“The 48-hour Chrono stage is now a crucial part of the Dakar. It’s two days without any service from your team. You sleep in a tent in the desert and it depends on your speed where you end up sleeping and who else is there. In 2025, it is very early in the rally, basically the second day. It will be so important to get it right, especially for us with a new car.”
Sainz’s work station for the 2025 Dakar Rally. Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Do you remember a particularly tough stage and how it made you suffer?
“I can say that one stage in South America stands out. It was extremely hot and I suffered from dehydration. Sometimes in South America, we had temperatures reaching 45 degrees Celsius [113F] and that was the case during this particularly demanding stage. I remember it affected me very badly.”
What Dakar Rally rule changes would you make?
“It might be the starting order. When you’re a factory driver and you have a problem on one stage, I think it can be dangerous to start so far back the next day because you end up overtaking so many cars. In addition to this, I would change the distance of the sentinel [an alert system that can be activated when you are 250 meters behind a slower vehicle that you want to pass]. It would be good to increase the sentinel range by another 100 meters because this would help to avoid accidents.”
What are the most outrageous Dakar stories that you have heard?
“I remember at my second Dakar, I finished a stage and a group of journalists came rushing towards me. They were all asking me about a problem with my co-driver. Apparently, there was a story among the press that I’d had a disagreement with my co-driver and left him in the desert. Obviously, the story was not true! The journalists had mistaken me with another competitor, Carlos Souza.
“The truth is that we had all got caught up in a very strong sandstorm and they had to cancel the stage. Souza and his co-driver Andy Schulz — who was my co-driver at my first Dakar — got out to free their car from the sand, then Souza got back in his car and drove for 200 meters before he realized Andy was still outside. Because of the massive sandstorm, they couldn’t find each other again for a long, long time. It was only when I got back to the bivouac that I got to hear the full story.”
Carlos Sainz was “amazing all season” in the way he approached his final year with Ferrari, according to team principal Fred Vasseur. Ferrari signed Lewis Hamilton to drive for the team from 2025 onwards, with the announcement of the move coming …
Carlos Sainz was “amazing all season” in the way he approached his final year with Ferrari, according to team principal Fred Vasseur.
Ferrari signed Lewis Hamilton to drive for the team from 2025 onwards, with the announcement of the move coming ahead of the 2024 season. That meant Sainz knew he was being replaced but still had a full year to race for Ferrari, and Vasseur is full of praise for the way the Spaniard handled the situation to keep pushing the team forward.
“You know in our business that you are always trying to think about the next step and today we have at the factory guys that were focused [in Abu Dhabi] on the strategy, you have guys working on 2025, we have also some guys working on 2026. It’s a [never ending] situation — it’s not that you are finishing something one day and starting the other day.
“I asked everybody, at least on track, to be focused on 2024 until the end. I asked the same of Carlos at the beginning of the season and I think we did very well and he did very well. He was amazing all season, even when he was discussing [his future] with other teams. He stayed very professional, very dedicated and he did a brilliant job.”
Vasseur says he has quickly turned his attention to the 2025 season once he was over the disappointment of missing out on the constructors’ championship at the final race in Abu Dhabi last weekend.
“It’s true that I will try to put 2024 somewhere [behind me] and to think about next year because I think we have a good opportunity — we are improving collectively and the mood is good. I think the feeling inside the team is that … we all have the feeling that we can do a better job — including me — and this is crucial if you want to improve.”
Sainz was released by Ferrari to take part in post-season testing for his new team Williams at the Yas Marina Circuit earlier this week, but the Scuderia has to wait a little while longer to run Hamilton for the first time as he is taking part in a number of farewell events for Mercedes and its sponsors.
Carlos Sainz says he used his final laps in a Ferrari during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to prepare himself to be able to compare cars once he jumped into the Williams for testing. Ferrari has allowed Sainz to take part in the post-race Pirelli tire …
Carlos Sainz says he used his final laps in a Ferrari during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to prepare himself to be able to compare cars once he jumped into the Williams for testing.
Ferrari has allowed Sainz to take part in the post-race Pirelli tire test on Tuesday for Williams, and that was preceded by a filming day on Monday where he could complete limited mileage on demonstration tires. Sainz insists the transition into his next chapter is not something he envisages being particularly difficult because he was already thinking about how he could take learnings to Williams.
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“Being very honest with you, I don’t think (it’ll be hard),” Sainz said after Sunday’s race. “I’m not going to lie, my last laps, as much as I was pushing like hell for (Ferrari) and trying, I was already starting to feel things in the car and trying to say, remember how this feels. because (on Monday) and Tuesday I need to remember why is this car quick in this corner and why does it feel good?
“Because I know probably what I’m going to find (on Monday) and Tuesday needs some margin of improvement in the corners that I was feeling the car. So this just sums up that I’m already looking also ahead. I’m extremely motivated for the challenge that I have ahead of me.
“(Sunday) is a day to try and enjoy as much as possible with the team as my last day in red. We still have some days in Maranello coming up, but obviously my competitive mind is already looking forward to Monday and Tuesday and to see how I can make that Williams car faster.”
Sainz followed his filming day with the highest total of any single driver during Tuesday’s Pirelli test, completing 146 laps and setting the second fastest time behind former teammate Charles Leclerc, after spending the majority of the day at the top of the standings.
Charles Leclerc set the pace ahead of former teammate Carlos Sainz as the 2024 Formula 1 season came to a conclusion with testing in Abu Dhabi. All teams were allowed to run two cars at the one-day test, one for a rookie driver who has started no …
Charles Leclerc set the pace ahead of former teammate Carlos Sainz as the 2024 Formula 1 season came to a conclusion with testing in Abu Dhabi.
All teams were allowed to run two cars at the one-day test, one for a rookie driver who has started no more than two grands prix, and one for tire testing purposes for Pirelli. Leclerc was taking part in the entire day for Ferrari and topped the times with a 1m23.510, beating Sainz on his first official outing for Williams by 0.125s.
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Sainz had taken part in a filming day for Williams on Monday at the Yas Marina Circuit, but that took place on demonstration tires and with limited mileage. Tuesday was his first chance to really drive the FW46 in anger, and the Spaniard enjoyed an extremely productive day, completing 146 laps and spending most of it at the top of the timing screens.
Of more importance to Sainz was the opportunity to feel the differences between the Williams and Ferrari cars, and get used to procedures and settings, allowing him to provide feedback for areas to work on over the winter. The same can be said of Nico Hulkenberg on his first appearance for Sauber, with the German fourth fastest with a 1m23.789 and one of multiple drivers to exceed 100 laps.
While Hulkenberg was getting used to a new way of working after leaving Haas, he ended up sandwiched between two drivers in familiar machinery as Mercedes pair George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were third and fifth respectively. Antonelli had been due to drive for the entire day but an illness had ruled him out of the final Formula 2 weekend and he was still recovering, so reserve driver Fred Vesti was behind the wheel for the morning, before Antonelli managed 62 laps after lunch.
Pato O’Ward had another strong outing for McLaren with the seventh fastest time and 116 laps under his belt, at a track where he struggled with his neck on his testing debut back in 2021. O’Ward drove for the entire day while McLaren split running in the tire test car between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Alpine pair Jack Doohan and Paul Aron also drove for the full day, with Aron making his debut in current machinery just over a week after being confirmed as an Alpine reserve driver for 2025. The Estonian – who was third in this year’s F2 championship – only received the nod to drive on Sunday night but ended up 0.007s off Doohan’s best time and completed 121 laps to his team-mate’s 137.
Rounding out the top ten was the driver Doohan replaced, with Esteban Ocon making his debut for Haas. The Frenchman had to wait 15 minutes before starting his running but managed over 100 laps and posted a best time of 1m24.305.
There were other notable performances from rookies Luke Browning and Ryo Hirakawa in 11th and 12th for Williams and Haas respectively, while Liam Lawson in 13th had the highest lap count with 159 on what could well prove to be his last outing for RB. RACER understands Lawson is set to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull, once an agreement is reached regarding the latter’s departure.
That news will be a disappointment to Yuki Tsunoda who had his first outing in current Red Bull machinery and managed 127 laps during tire testing, ending up just 0.011s slower than Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner Norris. The McLaren driver was also responsible for one of the few yellow flags during a remarkably clean day of running, spinning at Turn 14 in the morning session.
The only other interruptions were a Virtual Safety Car required to clear debris from Turn 7 mid-afternoon, and a spin for Isack Hadjar at the same corner before a very late red flag briefly interrupted proceedings for a barrier check in the final sector.
From an American perspective, Jak Crawford made his debut in the 2024 Aston Martin as part of the young driver testing and set a 1m24.997, edging out Felipe Drugovich in the sister car by 0.017s.
Carlos Sainz has driven for Williams for the first time as part of a filming day at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The Spaniard is joining Williams in 2025 but has been released by Ferrari to take part in the Pirelli tire test for his new team …
Carlos Sainz has driven for Williams for the first time as part of a filming day at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
The Spaniard is joining Williams in 2025 but has been released by Ferrari to take part in the Pirelli tire test for his new team this week, with the test itself taking place on Tuesday following this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
However, to get Sainz more comfortable in the car and to check his seat fit and pedal position, Williams has been able to make use of a filming day it had yet to complete in order for him to drive on Monday.
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Within 24 hours of finishing second for Ferrari in the final race of the season, Sainz was on track in the FW46 on demonstration Pirelli tires. Wearing a plain white helmet but carrying his normal race number of 55, Sainz completed a number of laps late in the afternoon at the Yas Marina Circuit, including a practice start as he familiarized himself with Williams procedures.
Sainz will be one of a number of race drivers testing for their 2025 teams on Tuesday, with Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, Esteban Ocon at Haas, Jack Doohan at Alpine and Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto at Stake.
Williams also announced a new sponsor on Monday, with Spanish-based banking giant Santander continuing to back Sainz as he makes the move from Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc admits the pain of missing out on the constructors’ championship with Ferrari outweighs the pride at his remarkable recovery drive in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Leclerc started 19th on the grid due to a power unit penalty and poor …
Charles Leclerc admits the pain of missing out on the constructors’ championship with Ferrari outweighs the pride at his remarkable recovery drive in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Leclerc started 19th on the grid due to a power unit penalty and poor qualifying, leaving Ferrari with only a remote chance of overturning a 21-point deficit to McLaren with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri starting on the front row. A dramatic opening lap saw Piastri hit by Max Verstappen and Leclerc gain 11 positions to run in the top eight, going on to finish third behind teammate Carlos Sainz as Norris held on for the victory.
“I’m really happy about the race, but the disappointment is a lot bigger,” Leclerc said. “You don’t win or lose a championship in the last race — obviously, it’s over the course of the season and after every single race and McLaren has just done a better job than us. Congratulations to them.
“But it obviously hurts when you get to the last race. You know there’s an opportunity. It was a very difficult weekend, obviously, already with the penalty on Friday. It was never going to be easy. But after such a good first lap, the hopes were high. And yeah, we just came short of our dream, which was to win the constructors’. So it hurts.”
Leclerc’s brilliant first lap including a triple overtake around the outside of Turn 6 as he quickly moved himself inside the top 10, and he says he knew he had to take risks to give Ferrari any hope of overhauling McLaren.
A magic first lap from Leclerc cut through many of his obstacles on the way to the front. Motorsport Images
“I knew I had to be very aggressive, so I knew that in lap 1, I had to take all the risks possible in order to gain as many places as possible, to then be in a good position for the rest of the race,” he said. “This I achieved, but then, unfortunately, we were just starting too far back to do anything better than what we’ve done today.
“I think we’ve done the maximum. It hurts, obviously, because the season was so close until the end. It was a hard hit on Friday when we knew we had the penalty. We still gave it all and we just came short of our goal, which is a shame. But at the end, we’ve tried everything.”
Sainz was closer to Norris throughout his final race for Ferrari but couldn’t quite keep in touch with the McLaren, and he admits his car didn’t quite have the performance to secure the win it required.
“Obviously, a bit of a bittersweet feeling in the end,” Sainz said. “P2, I think, was the maximum we could do today, given the pace of Lando in the McLaren. I gave it everything, especially the first stint. It looked like we could hang on to them. Then as soon as we put the hard tires, they just seemed to be that one or two tenths quicker per lap, like we’ve seen all weekend, and they just got a bit out of reach.
“Congratulations, first of all, to McLaren. They deserve this championship. They’ve been rock solid in the last two-thirds of the championship — they’ve been incredible. From our side. I think we can be proud of the effort and the championship we put together. It’s been a tough year, but definitely a year where we need to be proud of, and hopefully I’ll be back here soon.”
Charles Leclerc delivered an expletive-filled rant on team radio after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, believing he was too respectful of teammate Carlos Sainz as he ended up missing out on a podium finish. Sainz was running ahead of Leclerc prior to the …
Charles Leclerc delivered an expletive-filled rant on team radio after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, believing he was too respectful of teammate Carlos Sainz as he ended up missing out on a podium finish.
Sainz was running ahead of Leclerc prior to the second round of pit stops but then had to give up a position to his teammate, before using an undercut to re-pass the Monegasque driver. Leclerc was told Sainz had been informed not to overtake him as he was emerging from the pits but was passed two corners later, and when asked to pick up rubber post-race and congratulated for doing his job post-race, Leclerc was clearly angry.
“Yes, whatever you want as always,” Leclerc said in response to race engineer Bryan Bozzi. “Yeah I did my job, but being nice f***s me over all the f***ing time, all the f***ing time. It’s not even being nice, it’s just being respectful. I know I need to shut up but at one point it’s always the same. Oh my f***ing God.”
When then reminded to pick up rubber again, Leclerc replied: “Yeah, yeah, f***ing pick-up what the f**k you want.
“S**t, s**t, s**t, and the radio is on – I’m sorry, that was on me.”
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Explaining the situation from his side, Sainz believes Ferrari handled the second pit stop phase poorly that led to him losing significant time when he had been running ahead of Leclerc.
“I think he grained the medium tires and I managed to get ahead before the pit stop on mediums,” Sainz said. “Then I did grain my hards and he was coming quick behind me, and I was anticipating what was going to be a situation, because Lewis [Hamilton] was right behind Charles at the time, and I was pretty sure the team was going to ask me to let Charles by because he was quicker at the time.
“As I was on grained tires, I asked the team two or three times to box me, to get me out of the way, and get me a new set of hards to make sure that I wasn’t losing a lot of race time by having to let Charles by and then having to fight Lewis at the same time.
“For some reason we didn’t box and I ended up having to let Charles by a lap later than was planned and losing a lot of race time. And by the time I was going to box, then we didn’t even box.
“So I guess he’s not happy, but I’m also not happy with the way things were handled at the time. I think no one’s happy today in the team because we all expected a bit more. I’m on the podium, so at least I got that for the team. But at the same time, I don’t think we could have finished much better than P3 and P4 today.”
