F1 | Carlos Sainz between highs and lows: where he is trying to adapt to a very different Williams. Carlos Sainz’s first season with Williams has been full of ups and downs as he adapts to the FW47.

Carlos Sainz adapting to a very different Williams

Carlos Sainz is experiencing a season of highs and lows with Williams as he works to adapt to the FW47. Although the car has made clear progress compared to the 2024 model, its driving characteristics are very different from Ferrari’s, meaning the Spanish driver has needed time to find rhythm, confidence and consistency in his results.

For Williams, signing Carlos Sainz was a bold move designed to accelerate their climb back towards the top half of the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship. The British team is still rebuilding its infrastructure and closing a performance gap to rivals, so adding an experienced driver with Sainz’s pedigree was seen as an essential step. With years of F1 experience and four strong seasons at Ferrari, the Madrid-born driver brought not only speed but also valuable working methods, particularly in areas like tyre management and preparation. The team has often highlighted how his professional approach has already raised standards inside Grove.

Another major benefit of Sainz’s arrival was giving Williams, for the first time in years, two quick and experienced drivers. The lack of such a pairing in recent seasons had cost the team precious points in the standings – and with it the prize money needed to continue reinvesting in performance. Now, with Sainz alongside Alex Albon, Williams finally has a solid foundation. Yet the results table shows a team moving at two speeds: Williams sits fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with a comfortable margin, but Albon has scored more than triple the points of his new teammate. To understand why, it’s necessary to look at how Sainz is adapting to the FW47.

The FW47 still carries limitations from the past

Early in the season, Sainz had to contend not only with a few personal errors but also with the unique traits of the FW47. While the car has improved in both performance and drivability compared to 2024, some long-standing limitations remain. In recent years, Williams drivers often complained about handling issues: the cars were strong on fast circuits but much less versatile elsewhere, requiring a very specific driving style to extract maximum performance. In short, the main criticism was lack of flexibility.

The FW47 represents a step forward, but those same low-speed weaknesses have meant Sainz has needed a longer adaptation period. Even Team Principal James Vowles acknowledged the problem earlier this year, saying: “If I had to rate it, in the past it was an 8 or 9 out of 10 problem. Now it’s down to a 4 thanks to improvements. The goal is 0. We’re getting better, but we haven’t solved it completely.”

A completely different engine braking system

Another adjustment for Sainz has been the switch from Ferrari’s Power Unit to Mercedes’. For the first time in his F1 career, the Spaniard is working with a Mercedes engine package, which has very different characteristics – particularly in terms of engine braking. Ferrari’s system was more aggressive, and Sainz became known as one of the grid’s most aggressive brakers, using rapid downshifts to attack the corners. The Mercedes system requires a different approach, altering gear use, braking transitions, and the feel of deceleration.

Sainz explained in Hungary: “Obviously I won’t go into detail, but it’s completely different. The way you use the gears, the downshifts, how the engine braking works, how it transitions from normal braking to engine braking – everything is different. You have to change your driving style.”

This adjustment has not been easy. Drivers like Lewis Hamilton, for example, prefer an initial sharp ‘bite’ on the brakes followed by a smoother entry to carry speed into the corner. For Carlos Sainz, who had tailored his style to Ferrari’s aggressive system, the transition has required patience and time.

Why Sainz lags behind Albon in points

Unfortunately, this learning process coincided with Williams’ most competitive period of the season. While the FW47 was consistently the strongest midfield car, Albon was able to score regularly. After just three races, the Thai driver had already collected 18 points, while Carlos Sainz missed out on opportunities. In Bahrain, after an excellent qualifying, he admitted he mismanaged the race by fighting faster cars and finishing outside the top 10. In Saudi Arabia, however, he delivered an eighth place ahead of Albon, showing progress, before team mistakes in Miami and Imola cost him valuable points.

Later races exposed both the strengths and weaknesses of the car. On circuits like Spain and Hungary, the lack of downforce and stability in long corners made life difficult, while reliability issues struck both drivers – including retirements in Canada and Austria. On friendlier tracks such as Silverstone and Spa, the pace returned. Yet even there, Carlos Sainz’s results fluctuated: a contact with Charles Leclerc cost him points at Silverstone, while in Belgium he had a mixed weekend – strong in the sprint (6th place), but less convincing in the main race, where Alex Albon matched the sprint result and scored more heavily.

A long-term project with lessons learned

It is clear that Williams has focused development resources on 2026, with significant updates to the FW47 arriving late compared to rivals. That meant the car’s early-season advantage slipped away, leaving Sainz to adapt with limited new tools at his disposal. No major upgrades are expected before the end of the year, meaning progress depends on setup changes and driver adaptation rather than new components.

Despite this, Carlos Sainz remains positive: “The 2025 season has exceeded my expectations in terms of what the car can do and what the team is capable of. I’m just frustrated that the results haven’t been better, because the feeling inside the car suggests otherwise. But for one reason or another, the results are not coming. I like seeing the potential, because I know I have it too.”

He added: “The fact that sometimes I’m quicker, sometimes I’m within a tenth, sometimes I’m a tenth slower than Alex every weekend, tells me I can achieve the same results. But there’s never a reason for such a big gap in points and results as what we’re seeing over these 12 races, for example.”