Sainz baffled by Williams' lack of pace after struggling in Chinese GP

Carlos Sainz continues to grapple with performance issues as he trailed his Williams teammate, Alex Albon, once again during the Chinese Grand Prix. Despite ultimately scoring his first points for Williams with a P10 finish, the Spaniard originally placed 13th on the track before moving up due to post-race disqualifications of Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Pierre Gasly.

Sainz faced difficulties from the start, beginning in 15th and struggling to gain ground in the midfield. He was even overtaken by Ollie Bearman’s Haas late in the race. "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 noted. "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."

This is not Sainz's first team change, having previously raced for Racing Bulls, Renault, McLaren, and Ferrari before joining Williams for the 2025 season. However, this recent inconsistency is baffling him. "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 remarked.

Sainz observed that set-up changes benefitted Albon's car more significantly, allowing his teammate to briefly lead the race during a long first stint on medium tires. Albon capitalized on this, finishing seventh after the disqualifications. "Very happy," Albon said. "It was a strange race in many ways, as we were so comfortable on that first set, first stint… We did catch up, but yeah, still very happy."

Albon’s strong start to the season, with 16 points in the first two race weekends, surpasses the 12 points he managed throughout the entire previous season. This success underscores the improvements made by Williams. "We have come to a track that is quite weak for our car historically… But we still got points out of the weekend, which is really important," Albon added. "It just shows we are understanding the car quite well."

This contrast in performance between the teammates leaves Sainz and Williams with much to analyze ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

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