2025 Williams Racing F1 Team

[deadhead]

SAI ran away from HUL at Audi to only find an even harder opponent at Williams

[StopInventing]

SAI ran away from HUL at Audi to only find an even harder opponent at Williams

I'm new as a user to this forum, but I've been reading it for years. It's totally normal to have favorites and drivers that we don't like, I just don't understand the hate that you have for Sainz and why you seem to be so focused on discrediting him. Regarding his performance, since it's clear that you didn't pay attention, here is a summary of some of the problems that have negatively affected his season: Australia: already equal to Alex (faster in Q1 and Q2), in Q3 he tried something different that didn’t work out. Suzuka: only 0.53 behind Alex, three positions penalty, Suzuki’s race: stuck in traffic. Bahrein: ahead, would have ended up with points if not for Yuki's mistake. Miami: faster, in the race he started with very used tires (team’s mistake), damages from the first lap (not his fault), that got worse and worse, VSC in the worst possible moment (he had already pitted and the Ferraris didn’t); Ferrari ended up in front just for that. Imola: way faster, nonsense strategy, VSC at the worst possible moment (AGAIN), when the VSC finished, he was 15th and had to rebuild his entire race. Monaco: in q2 he completely lost grip, same exact problem happened to Alex in q3. Spain: faster, but again, problems in qualifying, a bad lap, put in the worst traffic, prevented him from doing a better job. Race? The car was bad and there was no possibility for him to push because of the engine. Canada: faster but penultimate lap aborted because of the red flag, last lap massive impeding; in the race he couldn’t push and LiCO basically for the entire race because of the engine. Austria: fast; during qualifying lots of problems with the brakes that also damaged the floor (even Sky showed how terrible his car was to drive); race…. Silverstone: ahead in qualy and race, again out of points because Leclerc took him out with him. Here: fast in qualy sprint; during sprint problems with the battery. Race: they found an anomaly and decided to change the car, they completely changed the setup and the wing for a wet race (which would have work if the race would have started at the right time), but at the end FIA postponed the race and he had a car that was undrivable in those conditions. And I did not even talked about the many pitstops where he lost many seconds (like in SPA, a 7 seconds pit-stop...)
Sainz’s season for now is just not judgeable for all the external circumstances that have negatively affected his weekends. He problably lost more than 30 points (not because of him).
Instead, regarding your assumption with no proof that he "ran away from Hulk", Audi has already communicated that they are behind with the 2026 project. Audi will probably take years to be competitive. Meanwhile, Williams seems to be the team that could make a step forward (considering that Mercedes's engine could be pretty good). Sainz decided to go with the team that could have the best chance of being competitive in a short time, which is Williams. And again "SAI ran away from HUL".. This just doesn't have any logic. He is the driver that currently hade the toughest teammates. The only season where he was a little bit lost was that year in Renault (but there were also many external circumstances) and anyway, that was in 2018, many years ago. If he is so afraid of strong teammates, then why did he accept Ferrari's offer? Why did he not stay at McLaren where he was better than Norris? Why did he want to extend his contract with Ferrari? Why did he not accept Audi's offers (the paycheck would have been huge) since Sainz was Audi's primary target.

[AR3-GP]

SAI ran away from HUL at Audi to only find an even harder opponent at Williams

Could there not have been technical considerations? I suspect the Mercedes engine will be much better than the Audi engine in 2026.

[DJ Downforce]

SAI ran away from HUL at Audi to only find an even harder opponent at Williams

I'm new as a user to this forum, but I've been reading it for years. It's totally normal to have favorites and drivers that we don't like, I just don't understand the hate that you have for Sainz and why you seem to be so focused on discrediting him. Regarding his performance, since it's clear that you didn't pay attention, here is a summary of some of the problems that have negatively affected his season: Australia: already equal to Alex (faster in Q1 and Q2), in Q3 he tried something different that didn’t work out. Suzuka: only 0.53 behind Alex, three positions penalty, Suzuki’s race: stuck in traffic. Bahrein: ahead, would have ended up with points if not for Yuki's mistake. Miami: faster, in the race he started with very used tires (team’s mistake), damages from the first lap (not his fault), that got worse and worse, VSC in the worst possible moment (he had already pitted and the Ferraris didn’t); Ferrari ended up in front just for that. Imola: way faster, nonsense strategy, VSC at the worst possible moment (AGAIN), when the VSC finished, he was 15th and had to rebuild his entire race. Monaco: in q2 he completely lost grip, same exact problem happened to Alex in q3. Spain: faster, but again, problems in qualifying, a bad lap, put in the worst traffic, prevented him from doing a better job. Race? The car was bad and there was no possibility for him to push because of the engine. Canada: faster but penultimate lap aborted because of the red flag, last lap massive impeding; in the race he couldn’t push and LiCO basically for the entire race because of the engine. Austria: fast; during qualifying lots of problems with the brakes that also damaged the floor (even Sky showed how terrible his car was to drive); race…. Silverstone: ahead in qualy and race, again out of points because Leclerc took him out with him. Here: fast in qualy sprint; during sprint problems with the battery. Race: they found an anomaly and decided to change the car, they completely changed the setup and the wing for a wet race (which would have work if the race would have started at the right time), but at the end FIA postponed the race and he had a car that was undrivable in those conditions. And I did not even talked about the many pitstops where he lost many seconds (like in SPA, a 7 seconds pit-stop...)
Sainz’s season for now is just not judgeable for all the external circumstances that have negatively affected his weekends. He problably lost more than 30 points (not because of him).
Instead, regarding your assumption with no proof that he "ran away from Hulk", Audi has already communicated that they are behind with the 2026 project. Audi will probably take years to be competitive. Meanwhile, Williams seems to be the team that could make a step forward (considering that Mercedes's engine could be pretty good). Sainz decided to go with the team that could have the best chance of being competitive in a short time, which is Williams. And again "SAI ran away from HUL".. This just doesn't have any logic. He is the driver that currently hade the toughest teammates. The only season where he was a little bit lost was that year in Renault (but there were also many external circumstances) and anyway, that was in 2018, many years ago. If he is so afraid of strong teammates, then why did he accept Ferrari's offer? Why did he not stay at McLaren where he was better than Norris? Why did he want to extend his contract with Ferrari? Why did he not accept Audi's offers (the paycheck would have been huge) since Sainz was Audi's primary target.

No offence but some of the reasons for Sainz's apparent misfortune can't be passed as an excuse. I notice you didn't mention Shanghai either?

[StopInventing]

SAI ran away from HUL at Audi to only find an even harder opponent at Williams

I'm new as a user to this forum, but I've been reading it for years. It's totally normal to have favorites and drivers that we don't like, I just don't understand the hate that you have for Sainz and why you seem to be so focused on discrediting him. Regarding his performance, since it's clear that you didn't pay attention, here is a summary of some of the problems that have negatively affected his season: Australia: already equal to Alex (faster in Q1 and Q2), in Q3 he tried something different that didn’t work out. Suzuka: only 0.53 behind Alex, three positions penalty, Suzuki’s race: stuck in traffic. Bahrein: ahead, would have ended up with points if not for Yuki's mistake. Miami: faster, in the race he started with very used tires (team’s mistake), damages from the first lap (not his fault), that got worse and worse, VSC in the worst possible moment (he had already pitted and the Ferraris didn’t); Ferrari ended up in front just for that. Imola: way faster, nonsense strategy, VSC at the worst possible moment (AGAIN), when the VSC finished, he was 15th and had to rebuild his entire race. Monaco: in q2 he completely lost grip, same exact problem happened to Alex in q3. Spain: faster, but again, problems in qualifying, a bad lap, put in the worst traffic, prevented him from doing a better job. Race? The car was bad and there was no possibility for him to push because of the engine. Canada: faster but penultimate lap aborted because of the red flag, last lap massive impeding; in the race he couldn’t push and LiCO basically for the entire race because of the engine. Austria: fast; during qualifying lots of problems with the brakes that also damaged the floor (even Sky showed how terrible his car was to drive); race…. Silverstone: ahead in qualy and race, again out of points because Leclerc took him out with him. Here: fast in qualy sprint; during sprint problems with the battery. Race: they found an anomaly and decided to change the car, they completely changed the setup and the wing for a wet race (which would have work if the race would have started at the right time), but at the end FIA postponed the race and he had a car that was undrivable in those conditions. And I did not even talked about the many pitstops where he lost many seconds (like in SPA, a 7 seconds pit-stop...)
Sainz’s season for now is just not judgeable for all the external circumstances that have negatively affected his weekends. He problably lost more than 30 points (not because of him).
Instead, regarding your assumption with no proof that he "ran away from Hulk", Audi has already communicated that they are behind with the 2026 project. Audi will probably take years to be competitive. Meanwhile, Williams seems to be the team that could make a step forward (considering that Mercedes's engine could be pretty good). Sainz decided to go with the team that could have the best chance of being competitive in a short time, which is Williams. And again "SAI ran away from HUL".. This just doesn't have any logic. He is the driver that currently hade the toughest teammates. The only season where he was a little bit lost was that year in Renault (but there were also many external circumstances) and anyway, that was in 2018, many years ago. If he is so afraid of strong teammates, then why did he accept Ferrari's offer? Why did he not stay at McLaren where he was better than Norris? Why did he want to extend his contract with Ferrari? Why did he not accept Audi's offers (the paycheck would have been huge) since Sainz was Audi's primary target.

No offence but some of the reasons for Sainz's apparent misfortune can't be passed as an excuse. I notice you didn't mention Shanghai either?

Could you please tell me what, according to you, cannot be passed as an excuse?
Why should I mention Shanghai? From what I remember, there were no problems. China and Monaco were the only two weekends where he struggled. But again, as already mentioned, in Monaco he was able to bounce back in Q1 only to completely lose performance in Q2 (Alex had the exact same problem in Q3 and in another weekend). I only made a list of the problems that I remembered (apparently there were other problems in SPA, but this is not the point) that prevented him from finishing in good positions. If you are talking about Australia or Suzuka, the point is that 1) in Australia (first weekend) he was already faster than Albon, 2) in Suzuka he was basically there with Albon in terms of speed, but he got a penalty and was stuck in traffic (Suzuka was a Monaco 2.0). My point was to show that Sainz's season for now cannot be judged because 1) he has lost so many points because of external circumstances and 2) he has not been able to really show what he is capable of. Every weekend when he could have achieved big points and was the fastest in the midfield, he had the weekend completely ruined (like, for instance, in Miami and Imola). So, I just find it silly when I read comments like "Alex is better", "Sainz is just slow" etc... because this is just not true and shows how they are just watching the final result. It's a similar story to the start of the season for Aston Martin. Or in races like Imola when Hamilton ended up in front of Leclerc. If we just watch the result, then we can say "oooh Lance was way better than Alonso" or "Hamilton finished higher than Leclerc because he was faster", but if someone watches the races, the truth is different. Moreover, there are other details about Williams. Williams seems to have a narrow working window and the car is basically the same as last year, no big differences, so 1) Albon already knows how to handle it and how to resolve some problems, 2) Sainz obviously needs experience and data to understand it, which can become quite difficult if your weekends are constantly ruined by car's problems, strategies, damages etc...problems

[Jurgen von Diaz]

Another odd claim by James 'I have the best drivers on the grid' Vowles. When he worked with Hamilton, who was in his prime and when with Schumacher, who was in his 40s doing a comeback. He could assess how skillful Hamilton is today.

[dren]

Interesting Sainz and Hamilton switched PUs and both are struggling a bit. Race podcast suggested engine braking is different between the two.

[CjC]

Awesome result for Williams!
Carlos has a knack of picking up the first podium for a team who have had to wait a long time for since their last one

[JPower]

Sainz said he's been OK with the car most of the year. He's actually ahead of Albon in qualifying H2H.

Just had flat out bad luck on Sundays. Good to see it finally turn around.

[Mr Brooksy]

Great work Williams. More of that please!

Gotta say, its a shame Alex made the mistake in Q1, both Williams could have had very good results today. But us Williams fans can't complain. This is the first podium for ages on merit.

[venkyhere]

Sainz finally justified his seat. James Vowles will finally feel vindicated for his 'all or nothing' pursuit of Sainz last year.

[AR3-GP]

Sainz has this pesky quality. No matter what the current narrative is, he will go out when you least expect it and break it down. He was the only non-red bull driver to win a race in 2023, despite the narrative against him at his former team. He was the first Ferrari driver to win a race in 2024 and he's also the last Ferrari race winner (Mexico 2024) which could stand for some time. He's now managed to get on the podium in a Williams before his replacement could manage the same at Ferrari. The first Williams podium since 2017! It's the most Sainz thing ever

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Sainz has this pesky quality. No matter what the current narrative is, he will go out when you least expect it and break it down. He was the only non-red bull driver to win a race in 2023, despite the narrative against him at his former team. He was the first Ferrari driver to win a race in 2024 and he's also the last Ferrari race winner (Mexico 2024) which could stand for some time. He's now managed to get on the podium in a Williams before his replacement could manage the same at Ferrari. The first Williams podium since 2017! It's the most Sainz thing ever

That's what you call a Smooth Operation!!

[FW17]

Williams would have absorbed all his Ferrari knowledge and everything else from him by now.

We now can wait to see the next chapter as in the past, Torro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, Ferrari, when something better comes along either he or the team will ditch the other.

[Chuckjr]

when something better comes along either he or the team will ditch the other.

Every driver and team is like that. Take advantage of every opportunity you get.