Carlos Sainz says Williams will need a ‘big philosophy’ change on the development of its F1 car to work on tracks like Hungary after first experience.
For long Williams has suffered on high downforce tracks like Barcelona and Hungaroring. Historically, they haven’t performed as well on circuits with long twisty corners, as they prefer tracks with long straights and short corners, where straightline speed is required in big amount.
It is a characteristics which is hard to change and since the team has been in the mid range in terms of finances, they have left the car’s philosophy same for years now, only changing things which is of utmost importance. After his from Ferrari to Williams, Sainz could immediately identify the issue.
He saw it in Barcelona and the repeat happened in Hungary as well, where he explained what is ailing Williams on these types of circuit. He thinks if the team has to make its car an all-rounder, they will need a big philosophy change rather than the bits and pieces to mitigate the issue.
“Hungary is always a difficult track for the team, after qualifying we had a long debrief, obviously I am coming from the team that was on pole to a team that was P13 with me, I could give them pretty strong feedback why this car is lagging around the track like this,” said Sainz to media. “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 kinds of things. It’s been a trend for a very long time.
“That’s why long straights and sharp short corners are 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 philosophy change and 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 all the tracks,” summed up Sainz.
Here’s Williams pair on Hungarian GP struggles