Strategies played a decisive role in Doha, with nearly all drivers following the same plan after the Safety Car was deployed on lap 7: the first stop under the SC, a second stop on lap 32, and then running until the finish on Hard tyres. McLaren’s strategic error, combined with Williams’ effective management of the pit-lane chaos, allowed Carlos Sainz to climb onto the podium once again this season.
Even after sustaining floor damage in the closing laps, Carlos Sainz remained calm and focused on building a gap from Kimi Antonelli behind him. Fortunately, Norris was unable to pass the Mercedes until the final lap, and for the 30-year-old Spaniard, everything went smoothly until the chequered flag.
Sainz’s Grand Prix in Qatar
Arriving in Qatar, Carlos Sainz had admitted he expected one of the most challenging weekends of the season. However, the race itself told a different story.
“Yes, I don’t know. I think this is obviously partly, or mainly, thanks to the hard work everyone put in to prepare for this race after a very difficult weekend in Budapest,” the Spaniard said in the post-race press conference. “We worked on how to handle these long, medium-speed combination corners where we’ve always seemed weak. The team and I devised a plan to test different solutions in the simulator and at the factory to adapt the car to this type of track.”
“Honestly, from the very first practice sessions, the car performed much better than expected. It was far more competitive. Then we made another couple of changes for qualifying and the main race, learning from the Sprint, which really improved the car, especially in race pace.”
“Yesterday we struggled a lot with front tyre degradation. Today the car felt much better. We went from watching Antonelli in the Sprint pull ten seconds on us, to suddenly being able to keep him behind, race with him, and, of course, with the McLaren strategy, also keeping Lando [Norris] behind,” Sainz explained.
Modifications and Carlos Sainz’s pride
The changes introduced for this Qatar GP would have been valuable in other races as well, but Sainz emphasized that such improvements are impossible without failures and trial-and-error experience.
“Applying them at the start of the year? It’s impossible because you need to know the car and try different things, making mistakes to understand what doesn’t work, then try another direction that might work,” he said. “And even that alternative sometimes doesn’t work. You have to try something completely different and make another mistake. So I always say the same thing: it takes time. When you switch teams, it really takes a lot of time and many races.”
“There are no tests, so you have to try things during race weekends, and you need your first 10-15 races to understand these things, or simulator sessions to test them. And you need a team that is courageous.”
“You also need people who are bold and full of ideas. In the end, it always pays off. There are no secrets in this sport. I think hard work, good understanding, and sound conclusions always pay. And honestly, in the second half of the year, we’re achieving very strong results.”
Finally, when asked if this was his happiest day at Williams or if the first podium in Baku had something more special, Sainz responded:
“I think this is my proudest day at Williams. The happiest? Perhaps Baku, because I was so thrilled to achieve my first podium for the team. This is simply… I feel really proud of everyone. Very proud of myself, but above all proud of the whole team for the weekend we had. And yes, prouder than happy. But, of course, also happy,” concluded Carlos Sainz with a huge smile.
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