Carlos Sainz has claimed that he is “not caring so much” about the points total he accumulates in 2025 as he continues to get up to speed with Williams in Formula 1.
Sainz and Alex Albon have capitalised on the Grove-based squad’s much-improved FW47 package to land points on all but one occasion over the opening eight races.
The overriding anticipation that Sainz would retain the edge over his new stablemate hasn’t materialised, though, as he has bagged 12 points compared to Albon’s 42.
Sainz has outqualified Albon twice in the past three events, but damage in Miami and a strategic error at Imola dropped him behind his team-mate in those two races.
And having conceded that he could need up to 10 weekends to dial out the habits he grasped at Ferrari, Sainz has denied that he is concerned about the sizeable gap.
Instead, Sainz has elucidated that he is placing a greater emphasis on ensuring that he and the team can hit the ground running when the regulations change in 2026.
“I’m very happy with these first eight races,” Sainz told media including Motorsport Week. “Happy with the results and the momentum the team is carrying.
“If you had asked me a year ago, when I signed the contract, that in some qualifyings we would be only three tenths off pole and beating a Ferrari or Red Bull or Mercedes,
I would have definitely signed the contract even earlier and even happier. The team is on a very strong trajectory.
“My adaptation process is going well, even though I don’t have all the points in the championship that I think my performance should reflect.
“Points is not something I’m caring so much about this year.
“I’m caring more about the speed I have with the car, the way I feel with the car, and how we can improve both the handling of the car and how we handle weekends, strategy, and execution.
“That’s been a bit of our weaker point. That’s why we don’t have many points in the championship.
“But as long as the speed is there and I’m quick with the car, this will come with more races.”
Williams poised to be in damage limitation mode in Spain
Williams has brought both cars home inside the top 10 in the last four races, but Sainz has warned this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix could spell a halt to that streak.
However, he has recognised that the nine-time Constructors’ Champions are now in a position where scoring points on weaker weekends remains a realistic ambition.
“Probably, if I had to design a track for the FW47, it wouldn’t look like Barcelona,” he highlighted. “We don’t tend to like medium-speed, long-duration corners.
“But I’m hopeful. It’s a track where we can also show the progress that we’ve made over the last few years.
“Apparently, the team was P19 and P20 here last year. We haven’t reached Q3 since 2020, Q2 since 2021. That kind of speaks to the kind of track we’re facing this weekend.
“But I’m confident that this year’s car is a step better in all these corners and we’re going to show better performance.”
He added: “I think the best example is still Monaco. I think we were all expecting to perform a bit better in Monaco, but we did some mistakes with set-up choices and the way we did our tyre prep in quali that compromised our performance that weekend.
“We came out finishing P9 and P10 and we were frustrated.
“I think if you had asked Williams a year ago about a P9 and P10, a double points finish, it would have been a great result and the team would be celebrating.
“A year later, it’s not enough. We know we can do better than that.
“Barcelona might be a weekend where a P9 and P10 is a good result. We need to keep that in mind.
“I think we’re heading into our most challenging track since China. A lot of new things to look into with the change of regulation [on the front wing].
“So we’re going to need to keep a good eye on how the weekend develops and see if we can perform at a good level. I’m confident we can, but on paper, it’s not the best track.”
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