Sainz scrambling to understand vanishing Williams pace
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Carlos Sainz departed the Chinese Grand Prix with a sense of bewilderment, unable to grasp why his early-season pace has seemingly vanished.
After finishing 13th on track – later elevated to 10th due to the post-race disqualifications of Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Pierre Gasly—Sainz secured his first points of 2025.
Yet, the Spaniard's muted performance from a 15th-place start, including a late overtake by Haas' Ollie Bearman, stood in stark contrast to his early-season promise, leaving him searching for answers.
A Puzzling Pace Drop
Sainz, who joined Williams after stints at Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, and Ferrari, has long prided himself on adapting quickly to new machinery. His initial outings in the FW47 during testing and in Melbourne hinted at his trademark speed, but Shanghai told a different story.
"We got it right with the strategy, unfortunately the pace of the car was...we were just not there, struggling with the front tyres again," Sainz said after Sunday's race.
"A bit puzzled to be honest, not happy because ever since I jumped in this car I was very quick in testing so I don't know where the pace has gone for this weekend.
"At least we have a good 10 days to analyse what went wrong and put together a plan to come back stronger in Japan."
The 30-year-old's frustration deepened as he reflected on a career marked by seamless transitions—until now.
"One of the strangest swings of performance I have had in my career, going from naturally super quick in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, even at the beginning of Australia and then suddenly the pace has just seemed to fall away from me," he continued.
Albon Shines Amid Sainz's Struggles
While Sainz floundered, Albon thrived, turning a long first stint on mediums tyres – briefly leading on his birthday – into a climb to ninth, later upgraded to seventh.
His 16 points across two races surpass last season's total of 12, underscoring Williams' progress.
"Very happy," Albon confirmed afterwards. "It was a strange race in many ways, as we were so comfortable on that first set, first stint – it kind of cornered us as the hard tyre out-performed everyone's expectations so we probably stayed out a little bit too long.
"We were quick and we were catching the cars at the end of the race but the deg wasn't big enough that I couldn't make the difference really. We did catch up, but yeah, still very happy."
Albon's success highlighted a divergence in fortunes between Williams drivers as Sainz underlined.
"We did a lot of set-up changes that on my side of the garage, what Alex and I did were pretty similar, on his side [the car] seemed to respond well to the front graining and he was a lot stronger today," Sainz noted. "On my side it didn't seem to help much."
To be clear, the tweaks that unlocked Albon's pace left Sainz's car unresponsive, deepening the mystery.
Williams' Progress, Sainz's Resolve
Albon credited the team's adaptability for their Shanghai haul, despite the track's unsuitability.
"We have come to a track that is quite weak for our car historically and it still didn't really suit us compared to Melbourne at least," he added.
"But we still got points out of the weekend, which is really important. I'm also really happy with the team, the way we came from yesterday, really struggling with the front tyres…
"We changed the whole philosophy of the car and still had really good race pace, so that just shows we are understanding the car quite well."
As for Sainz, the next 10 days loom as a critical window to decode his woes and reclaim his early-season spark ahead of Japan.
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