Formula 1 News: Williams denies Sainz Jr. racing 2024 car

(GMM) The Williams F1 team has denied reports that Carlos Sainz Jr. may not, in fact, be racing the team’s full 2025 car.

Having arrived from Ferrari and initially impressing in the post-season Abu Dhabi tests and the sole winter test in Bahrain, the Spaniard left China shaking his head about “one of the strangest drops in performance I’ve had in my career”.

One theory is that only one full 2025 Williams is ready – and that’s the one currently being raced by Albon.

However, the team says both the cars are the same – and both are based around the 2024 monocoque.

“The monocoque for 2025 is modified from the FW46, but it is the same one,” a spokesperson told Formula 1 journalist Chris Medland, who writes for Racer and other publications.

“The FW47 is an evolution as we’ve previously explained, aligned with our 2026 goals,” Medland continued to quote the spokesperson as saying on X.

He added that Williams has three 2025-spec chassis ready, so it’s possible Sainz could switch to the spare for the forthcoming races.