Carlos Sainz has admitted that the demands of helping Williams return to competitiveness in Formula 1 have resulted in the heaviest “workload” of his career so far.
Speaking ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the Spaniard revealed the scale of his involvement in rebuilding the team’s infrastructure, while remaining optimistic about the progress being made both at the factory and on track.
The 2025 season has been far from straightforward for Sainz as he continues to find his footing at Williams following his departure from Ferrari at the end of last year.
While the 30-year-old has secured points on a few occasions, he remains far behind team-mate Alex Albon in the standings – with the Anglo-Thai driver’s 46-point haul helping Williams maintain a respectable cushion over much of the midfield.
However, recent reliability issues have hampered the Grove-based squad, just as rival teams have begun to close the gap.
As part of Williams’ long-term rebuild, Sainz has taken on a hands-on role behind the scenes — something he admits has made his first year with the team more demanding than any before.
“The workload is higher than with any other team that I’ve been to just because there are still a lot of things that, or a lot of tools that we’re lacking that we’re trying to develop,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“A lot of things that we [do] still need the drivers to be involved. We don’t have the whole setup as I used to have in Ferrari, with the simulator, with the reserve drivers, with all the simulation tools that a team could have.
“It involves a lot more of the driver’s time to do things. So it’s also a high working load year for me as a driver, which I’m here for that, and I know Williams also hired me for that capability that I have to help in those areas.”
Sainz’s positive outlook on Williams’ progress
Despite the challenges, the former Scuderia driver remains upbeat about the long-term direction of the team and the work being done both at Grove and trackside.
“I enjoy that side of my job and I’m keen to see the results come through in the future,” he continued.
“I’m confident the results are going to come at some point, I don’t know when.
“It might be after summer break, it might be here in Silverstone and the rest of the season or it might be for the last quarter of the season or it might be for next year.
“But I’m very confident on the work we’re doing back at base and the work we’re doing at the racetrack to improve the race team — to know that at some point all this work is going to pay off and we’re going to start forgetting about all the issues that we’re currently having.”
Looking back on the progress made since joining the team, Sainz reflected on how the current car has already outperformed what he thought was possible when he signed with Williams.
“Yeah, I think for me the number one thing has always been performance — and the performance is there,” he explained.
“This year’s car performance, if anything, has exceeded my expectations of what I thought Williams could deliver for 2025.
“If we were putting things together now, I think we could be both drivers in P8, P9 or P7, P8 in the Drivers’ Championship and pulling away.
“But we’re not yet ready to execute weekends in that manner. Even if everything looks frustrating and difficult to handle right now, it’s been 12 races with a lot of ups and downs.
“I’m confident in the trajectory we’re on and where we’re heading.”
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