Carlos Sainz had a difficult weekend in Miami despite the great performance that Williams has been showing throughout the season. The Madrid native’s progress goes hand in hand with that of the FW47, which is not only fighting to be the best in the midfield, but is also standing up to the big guns of F1. However, during the last race, he did not hesitate to show his dissatisfaction with the team, and he did so over the radio, for all to hear.
Williams takes a step forward
The truth is, contrary to what everyone in F1 thought at the start of the season, Williams is back and the FW47 is working. The tests in Bahrain at the beginning of the year, where Carlos Sainz was the fastest on the grid, seemed like a mirage that is being confirmed race after race.
At the Miami Grand Prix, Williams was the third best car on the grid. Mistakes by the team affected the final result, especially that of Carlos Sainz, but there is no doubt about the strength of a team that was not even close to being among the favorites at the start of the season. Albon managed to finish in fifth position and Carlos Sainz took ninth place, which is not enough for him, but it confirms that the team will be in the points all year if they maintain this momentum.
Carlos Sainz and his dissatisfaction with Williams
However, Carlos Sainz finished the race very angry with his team. First, because he had to start the race on used tires, which affected his performance from the start. Then because of his teammate, Alex Albon, with whom he had a collision that damaged his car, even though there were team orders not to attack the Spaniard. That’s why he sent this brief but crystal-clear message over the radio: “We need to review the battle with Alex.”
After the race, as is customary for Carlos Sainz, he was cautious in his statements and, although he acknowledged mistakes on the part of the team and himself, he said that these are things that happen in racing and that they have to serve as lessons for the future, while emphasizing Albon’s maneuver.
“I think I held off the Ferraris behind me pretty well. The battle with Alex needs to be reviewed, because the team told me he wasn’t going to attack me and he didn’t hesitate to pass me.”
“We weren’t perfect this weekend, myself first with the two mistakes. But also the team with the SQ2 mistake and putting me on the tire I should have started on today with the new tire, they put it on yesterday in wet conditions. It’s an operational mistake that can’t happen on a day when we want to fight for victories and championships.”
For his part, Albon did not want to add fuel to the fire and responded about how he had experienced the race.
“I think there comes a point when they tell you, and they didn’t tell me. I think there was a moment when they told me that my engine was heating up during the straight where I overtook Carlos.” ”So, well, there’s always a delay, and at that moment there was more delay. Literally, as I was overtaking Carlos, I got the radio message: ‘The engine is heating up a bit’. So it could have been a bit like that. But I’m sure we’ll talk about it.”
The truth is that Williams is improving significantly, Carlos Sainz is also doing well, but Albon is not going to sit idly by. The Madrid native is the number one driver in terms of his track record and where he comes from, but in F1 nothing is given away, and Albon will fight to always finish ahead of his teammate, and perhaps to score extra points.