Sainz admits old Ferrari driving habits holding him back at Williams
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Carlos Sainz has acknowledged that his transition to Williams from Ferrari has brought unexpected complications, rooted in habits he developed driving the Scuderia's recent Formula 1 cars.
The Spaniard's move to his new home at Grove was always expected to come with a learning curve.
But while he has shown flashes of his savvy skills and racecraft in the first two races of the 2025 season, the four-time Grand Prix winner has mostly struggled to unlock the full potential of Williams' FW47 – especially in qualifying, where teammate Alex Albon has been consistently quicker.
After a deep dive into the data following the Chinese Grand Prix, Sainz and his engineers have pinpointed a crucial issue: habits formed during his time at Ferrari are holding him back.
More specifically, the driving style he honed in Maranello over three seasons does not translate well to Williams' current machinery.
Unlearning Ferrari's Ways
"I was used to a certain type of car in Ferrari, which made me end up driving – especially since 2022 – in a very specific way, to extract everything about that car," Sainz explained ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, quoted by The Race.
"And you fall into, let's say, habits in your driving, that then you apply to the next car. It might work in some corners, but in others it makes you very weak. And that's probably a bit of it."
This self-awareness has led him to a two-pronged approach for improvement: adjusting his driving technique while also working with his engineers to tailor the car's setup to better suit his natural style.
"Then there's also a side of set-up that can help me drive in the way I like to drive a car and we're also working on that. So it's probably just uniting both."
Different Approaches, Different Outcomes
The team's GPS analysis of Sainz's and Albon's laps in China revealed stark differences in their methods. Sainz attacks corners more aggressively, braking later and carrying higher speed into the apex.
Albon, on the other hand, sacrifices some entry speed for a cleaner exit, which allows him to build momentum down the straights.
"The car has completely different strengths and weaknesses to the car I used to be driving for three years, adapted [to] for three years, and that I was so quick with last year," Sainz said.
"So that's more or less the point. You approach the corner in a way, expect the car to do something, and then you need to completely reverse engineer and say, 'OK, start from zero, this is not the way you approach it'."
Rewiring Muscle Memory
Making this adjustment is easier said than done, particularly in the high-stakes environment of a qualifying lap where muscle memory takes over. While practice sessions allow room for experimentation, once the pressure ramps up, ingrained instincts tend to resurface.
"From a driving perspective, the biggest challenge you can have is to relearn a bit the way to approach a corner," Sainz admitted.
"In your system, you have a certain level of muscle memory, and especially under pressure in qualifying, you tend to go back to your ways of muscle memory, and the way you drive.
"You tend to have that headspace in free practice to change your driving style. I remember in '22, when I struggled a bit with the Ferrari, that I managed to be quick in practice, but then you get to qualifying and that natural instinct comes back and you just need to be very disciplined."
Sainz acknowledges that adaptation takes time, but it's a challenge he embraces.
"It's something that takes time. It's something that takes a lot of effort from a mental and driving perspective," he added. "But it's a challenge that I've always enjoyed, and it's a challenge that I've always managed to get on top of.
"In all my career I've driven five different cars [teams], different sets of regulations, and probably two races is still not enough to understand that. But I enjoy it, and I enjoy the challenge."
With more mileage under his belt and continued work on adapting both himself and the car, Sainz will be aiming to unlock the full potential of his new machinery sooner rather than later.
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