Carlos Sainz’s strong winter form has vanished, leaving him confused and frustrated after a tough start with Williams in Australia and China.
Carlos Sainz left Shanghai scratching his head after what he called “one of the strangest performance drops” of his Formula 1 career.
The 30-year-old Spaniard, who joined Williams after parting ways with Ferrari, made an impressive start during winter testing and looked ready to lead the team forward. But the early races of the season—particularly in Australia and China—have taken an unexpected turn.
“I’m honestly a bit lost,” Sainz admitted after a disappointing weekend in Shanghai. “I was very quick in the Abu Dhabi test, and again in Bahrain during winter testing. But somehow, all that pace just disappeared when the real racing began.”
The double-header in Shanghai, including the sprint and main race, proved tough. Sainz struggled with tire wear—especially front graining—and couldn’t match the performance of teammate Alex Albon, who managed to finish in the points.
“We made big changes to both cars between Saturday and Sunday. It worked for Alex, but for me, the car was still difficult to drive. I had heavy tire degradation on both the mediums and hards, and I just couldn’t find the speed.”
Adding to the frustration, these two races were Sainz’s first proper outings with the car under real race conditions. “It just didn’t work,” he said plainly. “There’s a lot to understand.”
He’s now banking on the short break before the next race in Suzuka to regroup. “We have ten days to calmly review everything and find a direction. I’m confident we’ll bounce back stronger. But here in China, we were just too slow.”
Sainz pointed to other teams, like Haas, as examples of how quickly things can turn around. “They were down after Australia, but suddenly they’ve made a big step forward—just like last year. That’s what we need to do too.”
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From Testing Star to Race Struggles: Sainz Puzzled From Testing Star to Race Struggles: Sainz Puzzled
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