Carlos Sainz was last year the victim of a global merging of brands as Lewis Hamilton picked up the phone to Ferrari chairman. John Elkann, to see if there was room at the inn in Maranello. The Brackley based outfit were responsible for handing Lewis six of his seven world titles, but they bit the buffers when the new ground effect regulations came into force in 2022.
Hamilton finished third in the drivers title race in 2023 and signed a a contract extension late on the year, which was announced a ‘multi year deal’, yet while the ink was still wet Hamilton decided the Mercedes team were not solving the problems which would return him to wining ways.
The victim in all this was Carlos Sainz, who had established himself firmly in the Ferrari F1 setup and whilst not quite delivering the results of his team mate Charles Leclerc, the Spaniard was no number two to the Monegasque. In fact Sainz and Leclerc have different driving styles and often when one would struggle over a race weekend, the other would perform well.
Sainz praises Williams car as “better than I thought”
Further whilst Charles Leclerc was described by former F1 car designer, Gary Anderson, as “the best qualifier currently in F1” his regular mistakes on race day often saw his more consistent team mate pick up the pieces for the team when Leclerc had put his car in the wall.
Having deliberated long and hard, Sainz rejected two F1 works team offers from Renault and the future Audi to join the independent Williams team under the leadership of James Vowles. In his ten years in F1 Carlos has now driven for half the teams on the grid and is no stranger to change. His first impressions of the Williams car were surprisingly good as he revealed at the F175 launch event on February 18th this year.
“Because at Williams, in Abu Dhabi, I found a car that was honestly a bit better than I thought, or better than I expected, obviously with some deficiencies compared to the cars that I’ve been driving, but not massively far off,” explained Carlos referring to the post season test last year. “Definitely the thing you feel the most when you change teams, the moment there’s a [change of] power unit involved, it’s the power unit,” he said.
Carlos has never driven for a team which uses the Mercedes V6 turbo hybrid powertrain which makes his observation all the more fascinating. The current F1 power units are coming to the end of their life yet after nine years of development before the freeze in 2022, there remains a notable difference in the way they deliver their power.
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Adapting from 1 F1 team to another – 6 months
Other than Fernando Alonso, no current F1 driver has driven for more teams on the grid yet despite this Sainz claims the time to adjust car design philosophy takes longer than most would think. “Normally from my experience, that adaptation process – with only three days of [pre-season] testing, which is one and a half [days] per driver – my experience tells me it takes around half a year to really understand all the tricks and the little details on the car,” claimed the four-time Grand Prix winner.
Unless Williams pull a huge rabbit out of the bag with their FW47, Carlos won’t be winning races this season and when asked how he felt about being ‘condemned’ to the midfield as always the Spaniard spoke his mind to motorsportweek. “My honest point on that is I don’t know how I’m going to react to fighting for P7 to P15, I don’t know.
“I don’t know how much I’m going to miss it. I don’t know how much fun I’m going to find it. Maybe you need ask me more into the year how I’m finding it,” he admitted at F175.
Team boss James Vowles was highly impressed following the Spaniard’s post season Any Dhabi test with Williams as he explained. “It was incredibly useful and powerful having him testing with us in Abu Dhabi because we were able to understand where our weaknesses lie relative to a car he’d driven just a few days before but had winning potential, and more importantly, make sure that the direction of travel that we’re in, which I’m pleased to say is correct, was on the right pathway.”
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“Carlos, when he tested in Abu Dhabi, gave us very instantaneous, correct feedback on all the areas we have to improve on.” Coming from a car which was capable of winning Grand Prix and a team whose organisational performance has improve greatly under the leadership of Fred Vasseur, Sainz brings a wealth of knowledge and experience which his team mate does not have.
Further, amongst his peers, Carlos is respected as one of the top drivers, but someone who thinks deeply about the sport of F1 and communicates in a measured fashion. To this end his peers have now elected him as one of three director’s of their F1 driver’s association as Sebastian Vettel now stands down following his retirement from the sport.
The other driver GPDA director is George Russell who found himself embroiled in a rather unseeming spat with world champion Max Verstappen towards the end of last season. He accused the Red Bull driver of being a “bully”, setting himself up as the, mythical George who slayed the dragon.
“Now he’s made it personal and someone needs to stand up to a bully like this. And so far people have let him get away with murder,” said the highly emotional Mercedes driver. Form some in the paddock it raised the question whether someone so easily riled should be the spokesmen for the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association.
Sainz calls out FIA over proposed draconian bans
Yet as was Vettel in his later years, Sainz will bring a sense of calm to the role he will now undertake and his first thoughts were regarding the recent draconian measures taken by the FIA to stamp out bad language. F1 drivers have had their fines to swearing tripled but most shocking of all is should they be found guilty of such reprobate behaviour three times in a year, they will receive a month month ban from racing.
This is unprecedented and almost universally accepted by F1 pundits, fans and drivers alike as ridiculous. Yet Carlos in his level headed way address the topic whilst calling out the FIA to see reason.
“In controlled environments, like press conferences, drivers should be mature enough to know when to control swearing,” began the Spaniard. “I don’t think we should be swearing in those situations, and I think we’re old enough and sane enough to know what to say and not to say. For me that’s just a matter of education and manners.
“Now, what we say on the radio, I don’t agree with what is happening. I think you cannot be too tough on this kind of thing, because you cannot understand the pressure, the adrenaline and the way we feel inside the car when we open that radio. And I honestly think for F1 it’s good to have those kinds of moments.
A pragmatic solution but contradictory
He added: “When you hear that passion, when you hear those words, even if sometimes we swear on the radio, for me that’s a keeper in Formula 1 and that shouldn’t be something we should get rid of.”
Sainz views are an attempt to mediate the parties over the topic, but philosophically the circle has not been squared. Either a five year old is pondered for life by hearing bad language, or not. Further they are more likely to watch a race than the fairly dull and pedantic FIA press conferences.
Yet of this approach outlined by Carlos gets the topic off the back pages, so be it. As a director of the GPDA Sainz will be a solid counter balance to the sometimes over emotional Russell, who would do well to learn from his more experienced colleague and not allow himself to be wound up by Max Verstappen.
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Verstappen tests Aston Martin at Paul Ricard
Verstappen takes the wheel of Aston Martin’s latest car – Max Verstappen has hit the headlines once again, this time not for his dominant performances in Formula 1, but for his involvement in GT3 racing. The reigning world champion was recently spotted testing an Aston Martin GT3 car at the Paul Ricard circuit, adding fuel to the ongoing speculation about his relationship with the British manufacturer.
While rumors have linked Verstappen to a potential move to Aston Martin’s Formula 1 team, the Dutch driver has clarified that his interactions with the brand are centered around a separate project. His latest test drive underlines his growing commitment to GT3 racing, a category for which he has frequently expressed his enthusiasm…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
