What’s going on with Carlos Sainz? Expectations were high, but what the Madrid-born driver is experiencing in the Chinese Grand Prix is a far cry from what he expected after the good feelings he had in testing. You only had to see that the Spanish driver didn’t feel like talking after qualifying. He looked upset, not quite knowing how to explain his bad feelings this weekend with the Williams car.
The Spanish driver went through Q1 (1’31“628) with a time six tenths faster than that set in yesterday’s Sprint Qualifying, but in Q2 he found himself lacking in feeling and this prevented him from improving (1’31”840).
Carlos Sainz, looking ahead to Sunday’s race, hopes that the new settings will pay off in the Chinese Grand Prix after the Sprint experience, where he has seen that tire degradation and graining will be major factors.
Bad start with Williams
Carlos Sainz’s time with Williams has only just begun but so far it has not gone as the Spanish driver would have liked. First he had to retire in Australia and now the Williams driver lamented the problems he is having in the qualifying sessions after crashing in the second round (Q2) today, which will force him to start 15th tomorrow in the Chinese Grand Prix.
“There is starting to be a trend where there are situations and laps where I go very fast, and then the slightest thing like putting on three or four sets of tires in a row in qualifying, I can’t improve what the others improve,” he explained in statements after qualifying. The Madrid-born driver emphasized that “the same thing happened as yesterday”, referring to the reduced classification (‘sprint shootout’): “I didn’t improve my time in Q1 (the first qualifying round) in Q2, and that’s where you end up paying for it, because you don’t improve when there is a change in the track and more grip”. “I’ll have to work on it. I’m already working on it, analyzing it with my engineers. At the same time, it’s still the second race of 2025, there are many to go,” he clarified.
Difference with the tests
“In Bahrain I was very fast, and in Australia there were sessions where I was very fast. But, like in Q3 (the last qualifying phase) in Australia, it seems that when everyone puts on many sets of tires in a row, they find more lap time than I do,” he stressed. The Spaniard insists that this is ‘the trend and the weak point’ on which he will have to focus and improve.
The driver acknowledged that “I tend to be more comfortable in the race than in qualifying, although in the sprint we had so much graining on both cars that we couldn’t see the real pace. We’ve made a lot of set-up changes and we hope to do a bit better tomorrow”.
Race plan
As for his rivals in the race, the Williams driver has made it clear: “We will try to overtake everyone in front of us, but it’s not going to be easy because we’re not exactly fast this weekend”.
Sainz still doesn’t feel completely comfortable with the car, but it’s part of the adaptation process: “In some corners yes and in others no. These are normal things when you change the setup, the fact is that we are trying to improve a lot, but there is still a little bit missing,” he concluded.