The driver Carlos Sainz Jr. has pointed out that the Formula 1 team Williams currently only surpasses Cadillac in terms of on-track performance, while his teammate, Alexander Albon, complains about the excessive number of blue flags they have to avoid during the races.
The season started with hopes for Williams, who scored 11 points in the first six races and occupied the eighth position in the constructors’ standings after the Monaco Grand Prix. However, results have drastically worsened, with Sainz only achieving a 12th place in Barcelona, and none of the Williams drivers finishing higher than 15th since then, as the team struggles to avoid getting stuck in Q1.
In the recent race in Zandvoort, Albon managed to enter Q2 in both qualifying sessions. However, Fernando Alonso, with his Aston Martin, implemented a unique pit stop strategy that brought him to ninth place, while Albon and Sainz found themselves trapped at the back of the pack.
“We are practically where we expected to be, which is at the back,” lamented Sainz. “Currently, we are only faster than Cadillac. Have you seen the Astons in race pace? They are another level right now. So we can’t fight against them. We really can’t fight against anyone.”
Albon, for his part, referred to the repeated incidents with the blue flags, claiming that almost every lap they are forced to maneuver to avoid the faster drivers. “Due to an early pit stop, we found ourselves behind a group of cars competing amidst the blue flags, and this complicated our race even more,” Albon added.
With the current situation, both Sainz and Albon do not expect to compete for points in the upcoming races, including tracks like Monza and Baku, which were designed to benefit their car, the FW48, with a Mercedes engine.
“If we look at the last five races, this is where we have been,” Sainz stated. “We’ve had a difficult weekend with part consistency, which has not allowed me to set up the car correctly for the race. We need to learn from this.”
Regarding Monza, Albon commented: “It is always a good track for us. Low downforce, with few combined corners, and this tends to suit our car better. But I don’t expect points.”
Currently, Williams occupies ninth place in the standings with 11 points, behind Audi, who has 16, and with Aston Martin in third place with only 3 points.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
