It’s no longer a secret that Carlos Sainz is struggling to adapt at Williams. The Spaniard admitted to his difficulties after the Chinese GP, saying, “I’m a bit confused, to be honest. I’m not happy because the car was very fast in testing. However, this weekend, I don’t know where all the performance I had went.”
In contrast, his new teammate Alexander Albon has started 2025 in excellent form; 16 of the 17 points scored by Williams are thanks to him. Alex Albon had even given Lewis Hamilton a tough time in Australia.
“[It’s] one of the strangest performance changes I’ve ever had in my career,” continued #55, speaking about his race weekend in Shanghai. “I went from being super fast in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, even at the start of Australia, and then suddenly the pace just seemed to disappear.”
A change in direction that the former Ferrari driver can’t explain, but it has led the Spanish press to speculate about a conspiracy against him. Some Spanish media outlets spread the news that Sainz might be using an old 2024 chassis, modified after numerous incidents. This would explain his drop in performance, unlike Alex Albon, who would have a chassis with 2025 specifications.
Since news spreads quickly on the web, team principal James Vowles wanted to debunk these myths, dismantling the false accusations from the Spanish media. “A clarification. Both Alex and Carlos are using exactly the same specifications, the same chassis, the same wings, the same gearbox,” he stated in a video shared on social media by Williams.
“Everything is the same standard specification. Specifically, the question was whether we were using a 2024 chassis with Carlos. Both drivers have an evolution of last year’s chassis, developed in the same way. Our intention has always been to follow the latest year’s regulations, ensuring that we effectively evolve our chassis rather than redesigning it from scratch,” he continued.
Highlighting the importance of the project, which allows the Grove team to “invest in 2026 and beyond,” he explained, “It’s not a financial issue, it’s a time issue. We’re all dealing with the budget cap. This allows us to re-optimize and ensure we have everything possible for 2026.”
Williams knew there was “a lot of potential in the chassis,” which explains the team’s current fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
“I’d also like to add that I think several teams on the grid have done something very similar to what we’ve done. Not all, but most have,” he said. Finally, to clear the matter up once and for all, Vowles reiterated, “Both drivers are using exactly the same thing, which is the evolution of the 2024 chassis.”
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