Williams needs a “philosophy change” if it is to realise its ambition of returning to the top of Formula 1 again, according to Carlos Sainz.
The Grove-based squad has executed an impressive season so far, currently sitting fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.
With 70 points, the team has already amassed 16 more points than it has totalled across the last three seasons put together.
Despite the race for supremacy in F1’s midfield hotting up, there appears to be no return to the foot of the standings, and, therefore, the doldrums for the team.
But there is still a long way to go, and Sainz, having driven for the likes of McLaren and Ferrari, is aware of the standards it needs to set if it is to reach the highest echelons again.
Following a difficult and point-less Hungarian Grand Prix, Sainz revealed how his expertise can help move the team forward for next year onwards.
“It’s [Hungaroring] always been a difficult track for the team,” Sainz told media including Motorsport Week.
“We had quite a long debrief after qualifying because obviously I’m coming from the team that was on pole going back to a team that was P13 with me.
“I could give them very strong feedback on why this car is lagging around a track like this.
“Obviously for this year we cannot do anything, but for the future hopefully it’s a very big learning curve for the team to know how we need to develop the Formula 1 car to be successful and competitive also in tracks like Budapest or Barcelona.
“We have relatively poor aero characteristics in long corners where you need to hold the downforce from entry to mid-corner. We struggle with these kind of things.
“It’s been a trend for a very long time. That’s why long straights and sharp short corners is good for the team.
“But at the moment we get into long combined corners of Barcelona, Hungary, Qatar – the car really struggles.
“It needs a very big design philosophy change for the future.
“We’re trying to understand where and what to change to make sure that next year’s car is a bit more of an all-rounder and gives us a better platform to work in multiple tracks.”
Sainz to ‘focus on weekend executions’ as Williams preps for F1 2026
Sainz may, at first glance, appear to be more glass-half-empty about the season so far, and perhaps with good reason, given his 38-point deficit to team-mate Alex Albon.
But the 30-year-old is taking all the positives from his difficult campaign and revealed he is to spend the remainder of it focusing on his own personal performances.
“It’s been a very strong start to our time together in terms of the way we want to develop the team, the car, the interaction with Alex, with James,” said Sainz.
“It’s not like we can exploit the feedback of the two drivers and the intentions that we have to develop this car, what we need, because we are not putting it in the wind tunnel to develop.
“That’s where next year is going to be a lot more challenging for the team and for ourselves to see if we can actually improve the main weaknesses of this car that are very clear in tracks like this.
“From my side on the shorter term, I’ll just focus on weekend executions. There’s nothing really we can do to the aero or to the set-up of the car in the end.
“I tried three or four different set-ups over the [Hungary] weekend to try and find an extra around tracks like this.
“I ended up reverting to the car that gave me the very competitive qualifying in Miami, Imola, at the beginning of the season.
“The problem is I think we’ve got a bit outdeveloped, and come to a track where it’s very difficult for us.
“The second half of the season, I will just seek consistency with set-up, consistency with the car, and just make sure we execute clean weekends.”
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