Formula 1 News: Williams a ‘better car’ than Sainz Jr. expected

(GMM) Carlos Sainz Jr. says he was pleasantly surprised when he climbed into the cockpit of his new car for 2025.

Overlooked by top teams Mercedes and Red Bull after Ferrari replaced the Spaniard with Lewis Hamilton, 30-year-old Sainz ended up choosing between midfield teams Alpine or Williams for the new season.

Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore believes Sainz has made a “mistake”, but the four-time grand prix winner actually topped the overall timesheets at the end of the sole pre-season test in Bahrain.

“You can’t say that the pre-season test times directly reflect the power balance for the 2025 season,” former F1 driver Shinji Nakano told Japanese source as-web.jp, referring to Sainz’s obvious qualifying simulation on low fuel.

“However, if the car platform itself is poor, you cannot get a good time like that even if you attack with less fuel, so I think the fact that Williams was able to record the fastest time is proof of the evolution from last year’s car,” he added.

Indeed, Sainz says he was actually braced for a tougher time in 2025.

“I saw that it was a better car and a better team than I expected,” he told Spanish broadcaster DAZN.

“We were fast and I was able to adapt quickly.”

Indeed, just a few weeks ago, team boss James Vowles was declaring that even regular points would be difficult for Williams in 2025 – but his expectations have also risen.

“Positions are difficult to predict,” he said. “But the important thing is that we should have the car regularly in the points.

“But we are not looking for results in particular weekends this year. We need to apply development and processes that bear fruit in the long term. That’s how you fight for world championships.”

Sainz, 30, is similarly upbeat.

“We are in a process of change that generates good feelings,” he said. “Sponsors are arriving, we are signing engineers and people who want to join the project. This shows that Williams is serious and that we have a clear view about how to return to the top.”