Carlos Sainz insisted that Williams will score better results once it learns from its current habit of mistakes after a mighty performance in Formula 1‘s Singapore Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was forced to start the race from 18th at Marina Bay after both his and team-mate Alex Albon’s FW47s were deemed in breach of the level of adjustability on their rear wings.
Sainz originally qualified 13th, but it appeared that any chance of scoring points was nullified by the stewards’ actions on Saturday night.
But come race day, Sainz produced an understated yet superb performance, doggedly running 50 of the 62-lap race on Medium tyres.
He manfully withstood the challenge of Oliver Bearman, on fresher tyres, to keep himself in contention, with a final late stint on Softs helping to elevate him to 10th, scoring one point.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week post-race, Sainz noted the impressive pace of his car to help him move through the field.
“From 13th I was hopeful of points, from 18th probably less,” he remarked. “To be honest, all of our simulations said we needed Safety Cars at the right times to get points but the pace was so good today that we managed to extract a point out of a difficult Singapore.
“Boring one because it was a one-stop that nothing really happened, but we had such a strong pace and such a good overtaking at the end that I think we were one of the only midfield cars to be able to make it through the field.”
Williams squandered chance to replicate Baku exploits
Sainz believed that had he been able to keep his initial grid slot, he would have been able to show the competitiveness that helped take him to his first podium for the team in Baku.
A longstanding issue for Williams this year has been its lack of optimisation in qualifying, but Sainz believes that this is what also makes the FW47 even faster come race day.
“I think an ideal weekend would have been a P7 or P8. Realistically speaking in the race we had a lot of pace,” he addressed.
“Again maybe a bit like in Baku we could have been mixing it up with [Andrea Kimi] Antonelli, maybe possibly if we would have started next to him.
“But the reality is that we have a weakness in qualifying that we are trying to address. We keep criticising the tyre preparation.
“My feeling after a few races, and the more I understand the car, is that it’s a weakness of the car, also not a weakness of switching on and off the tyre.
“And probably that weakness in quality is what makes us also very strong in the race and makes us do 50 laps on a Medium. So you cannot have it all.
“We just need to reverse engineer a bit the car and see how we can put ourselves in a better position for Sundays.”
Those at the Grove-based squad were left red-faced by the error in its wing measurements, which ultimately left it to fall foul of the stewards after qualifying.
But Sainz brushed off any idea of bad feeling for the error, saying that collectively, mistakes have been made, but the learning to not make them again is what is important.
“It’s definitely not hard feelings between any of us,” he added. “I think the team acknowledges we’re still making mistakes in these kind of things which can happen.
“We are in a building year of trying to become a better team and definitely yesterday we all did mistakes. I did mistakes in my quali lap that cost us a Q3.
“The team did a mistake with the legality of the rear wing on both cars. A mistake with Alex [Albon] in FP1 with the brakes.
“You know we’re still making mistakes, all of us, as long as we don’t repeat mistakes and we keep learning. That’s I think the key for us.”
READ MORE – Red Bull admits RB21 development could compromise F1 2026
Discussion about this post