Despite the new Formula 1 season, which sees Carlos Sainz driving for Williams alongside Alex Albon, having only just begun with three races, criticism has already emerged toward the Spaniard. In a recent interview, the former Ferrari driver defended his early days with the Grove-based team, urging critics to put his results into context.
“Well, if you expect to see the best Carlos Sainz in a Williams in the third race and in a new car, then you don’t really understand this sport, or at least you don’t know how long it can take a driver to fully get in sync with the car and figure out where the last tenth and a half or two tenths are,” Carlos Sainz said, referring to his critics. “Being close to or within a tenth of Alex throughout qualifying, I think that’s a good start to the season. Now I just need to make fewer mistakes in executing the weekend and keep improving the speed, because obviously I think there’s still room to improve in that regard. But yes, we’re not as far off as it seems.”
The differences with Ferrari
According to Carlos Sainz, the differences between the Ferrari he drove until last year and the Williams are one of the reasons why he has yet to gain full mastery of his new car.
“Obviously, Ferrari had a certain balance and a certain development direction that we followed for three or four years, and that led you to brake in a certain way, turn the car into corners in a certain way, release the brake at a precise point — things that after three years become muscle memory,” he said. “And when you jump into a different car, especially under pressure in qualifying, when you’re trying to find the last two tenths, you tend to fall back on the movements you’ve automated through muscle memory over those years.” – the former Ferrari driver pointed out.
“It’s not that you have to ‘unlearn’ those habits, because they actually make me very fast in other types of corners. But you have to remember that in certain types of corners, you shouldn’t do it.”
Leave a Reply