Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jr. is having a tough time adjusting to his new team, though at the Dutch Grand Prix qualifying session, he netted a Q3 appearance, a rarity for him this season.
After having every top team shut their doors on him, Sainz chose to believe in the Williams project led by James Vowles — a rising star in the paddock.
The move has not paid off as the Spanish driver hoped, but his performance at Zandvoort gives cause for optimism.
He qualified in ninth for the race, only five thousandths of a second away from Liam Lawson in eighth.
While Sainz was generally pleased with the result, the Williams team showed more potential during practice, making the end product somewhat disappointing.
“This morning in FP3, we were flying, we were getting everything in the right window, tires, track temp, and then suddenly, we went out in qualy and the first lap in Q1 was a bit shocking,” he told reporters.
“The lack of grip we had compared to FP3 and yeah, we had to readjust a bit our expectations.
“We went from believing top 6, top 7 was possible, to suddenly let’s just focus on getting out of Q1, and then in Q2 we adjusted a couple of things.
“We made it through Q2 on the cusp and in the end FP9, which, given how difficult the qualy was, I think it’s a good result.
“But yeah, it’s unfortunate that the conditions changed so much from FP3 to qualy and we went from being one tenth ahead of the midfield in FP3 to being one tenth behind of the midfield.”
His teammate Alex Albon, meanwhile, only got a P15 placement, though the deficit was less than two tenths in the end.
Albon’s result was a mirror image of how Sainz’s sessions have gone this season.
Typically, the former Ferrari driver is around two to three tenths away from Albon, ending up as a regular Q1 or Q2 exit.
Despite the promising showing in terms of comparative speed, Sainz remains at odds with the car’s limitations, citing its hindered performance in windy conditions as a costly drawback.
“You need to know this as a driver, that’s why I didn’t expect this car to be so sensitive to these kinds of things.
“Never had it before in my life, in my career, but it is something that I’ve been learning through the year, and I’m trying to adapt and trying to understand the best way I can.
“This is why you see me sometimes in Q1, P19, or Alex in P19 in Q1. Two drivers that normally we are very closely matched on track, we’re always within a tenth of each other, and then suddenly you see a guy in Q3 and the other one in Q1 and vice versa because it’s really, really tough for us.
“But it’s also up to us as a team to get on top of these sensitivities, these issues and get it right when it matters like we did today in Q2 and Q3.”
As he spends more time in the car, Sainz will hope for continued progress and a trend towards finally getting settled.
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