Carlos Sainz’s start to life at Williams is turning out to be better than expected. Despite joining a team that many expected to struggle to get into Q3, he has now reached the final qualifying session in two consecutive race weekends.
After qualifying P8 in Bahrain last weekend, he bettered his performance by qualifying P6 for the Saudi Arabian GP on Sunday. And that’s not it, as he also out-qualified Lewis Hamilton, who replaced him at Ferrari, for the second race in a row.
While Sainz is satisfied with his qualifying performance, he also understands that he needs to be rational when it comes to expectations in the race. After qualifying, he explained how Williams are far behind the top four teams in terms of performance, and so he needs to pick his battles wisely, something that he did not do in Bahrain.
With him trying too hard to fight the likes of Hamilton at Sakhir, he believes he was not able to capitalize on his brilliant qualifying position as he lost time to them. So, going into the Saudi Arabian GP on Sunday, he said he needs to manage his tires better as they struggle far more than the “top cars“.
Sainz explained in his post-qualifying interview, “The top cars don’t seem to degrade the rear tires [like we do], but let’s see tomorrow. I will try to be disciplined with my tire management.”
Carlos Sainz: The top cars don’t seem to degrade the rear tyres (like we do), but let’s see tomorrow. I will try to be disciplined with my tyre management
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) April 19, 2025
Tire degradation has been a limitation for Williams so far, with strong qualifying results not always converting into points finishes. That said, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is relatively new, with a much lower rate of abrasion, which might come in handy for Sainz during the Grand Prix.
In any case, the 30-year-old finds himself in a very good position to score points for the Grove-based team. On the other side of the garage as well, things are looking good. Despite being knocked out during Q2 by the slimmest of margins by Hamilton, Alex Albon has a very good chance of scoring points as well as he will start from P11.
A double points finish could be a really strong result for Williams as they try to maintain their stronghold in the midfield. As things stand, the Grove-based team is locked in a battle with Haas for fifth place, with only a point separating the two teams, something that Williams would like to change after the Grand Prix on Sunday.
