At the Singapore Grand Prix, Williams experienced a weekend of two extremes: after being disqualified on Saturday due to an irregular DRS flap, Carlos Sainz managed to climb from the back of the grid to the points, despite Williams’ simulations showing it was impossible without a Safety Car intervention. Let’s explore the strategy that brought Sainz to 10th place.
The Singapore weekend offered plenty of technical insights, both for the top teams and the midfield contenders. We’ve already analyzed why McLaren, Ferrari, and Aston Martin experienced such contrasting weekends, but among the mid-field teams, one squad seemed to have raced two separate events in a single weekend: Williams.
Although the FW47 has proven adaptable to a wide variety of circuits, Singapore was certainly not expected to deliver good results. The scenario was a far cry from Baku, where an unexpected second place came thanks to favorable circumstances related both to the track and race developments.
At Marina Bay, Williams confirmed its qualifying weaknesses: difficulty in maximizing the softest tire left them as the “fifth force” in the midfield, behind Aston Martin, Red Bull, Haas, and Sauber. This limitation was anticipated, as the FW47 often struggles to show its full potential over a single lap—a factor that weighs heavily at Singapore.
Any hope of excelling in the race, usually a stronger area for the FW47, was dashed after qualifying, when both cars were disqualified for a DRS flap opening exceeding regulatory limits.
Williams has encountered measurement issues before: internal data did not match the FIA’s figures, and last year at Zandvoort the team was disqualified after qualifying due to a floor that was three millimeters too wide. This same issue recurred this year, forcing both FW47s to start from the back, with points hopes almost entirely dependent on a timely Safety Car. The strategy was consequently straightforward: extend the stint as much as possible and hope for race incidents.
“We received bad news overnight. From 13th place, I hoped for points, but starting 18th, the chances were much smaller. In truth, all our simulations indicated that we would need a Safety Car at the right moment to get into the points zone,” Sainz explained, emphasizing how, according to Williams’ internal simulations, points were unrealistic under normal race conditions.
Of course, the fact that Pierre Gasly had to start from the pit lane allowed Sainz to immediately gain a position, moving up to 18th, as he would have started ahead of his teammate anyway. But without external help, Williams’ chances of finishing in the points remained almost zero. Yet the race took an unexpected turn: Sainz climbed all the way to 10th. How?
Three factors played in the Spaniard’s favor: a solid race pace from Williams combined with Sainz’s impeccable tire management, mistakes and misfortunes from rivals, and paradoxically, Alexander Albon’s strategy. For example, at the start, Yuki Tsunoda immediately dropped to the back after a poor getaway, ending up behind potentially slower drivers who were hard to pass.
In the midfield, strategies diverged: some chose to pit early, like Red Bull with Isack Hadjar and Haas with Oliver Bearman, while others extended their stints, including the two Williams. Key moments developed around these drivers: issues on the Frenchman’s car slowed the group behind him, while Albon held off Bearman for several laps, preventing him from taking full advantage of fresh tires immediately.
This stage was crucial: the less time Sainz spent defending, the more he could impose his own pace and build the gap that proved decisive in the final stages. His flawless tire management allowed him to complete over 50 laps on the medium tires, effectively treating them like hards, before launching the attack on softs in the closing laps—a strategy reminiscent of what Lewis Hamilton executed with Ferrari.
The strategy paid off: Sainz recovered about sixteen seconds on Hadjar in roughly ten laps, slowed by engine issues, while also overtaking Colapinto and Tsunoda, the latter having lost time at the start after dropping to the back.
“Today the pace was so good that we managed to snatch a point from a challenging Singapore. It was a boring race, all one-stop, without big surprises, but our rhythm was so solid and the final overtake so effective that I think we were among the few midfield cars truly capable of moving up the order.”
“Obviously, with the track evolution and everything else, I was literally flying on the softs at the end. But I think the crucial point of my race was extending the stint on the mediums as much as possible, making them behave like hards, exactly what I told the team we wanted to try.”
“I thought there was no chance of returning to the points—maybe 11th or 12th. But when I put on the softs and was two or three seconds faster than everyone, I thought: okay, maybe we have a chance. We made clean, precise overtakes, without wasting time, using DRS intelligently. I’m very satisfied because, with a midfield car, overtaking 8 or 9 cars in Singapore means you need something extra in pace. And today, we had it.”
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