Carlos Sainz “doesn’t know” worry exposed amid Williams difficulties

The early struggles of Carlos Sainz in the Williams have been attributed to him still learning about his new car.

Alex Albon has outperformed his teammate in each of the first two qualifying sessions and grands prix in Australia and China.

Sainz was a high-profile recruit for Williams who won the battle for his signature after his Ferrari seat was taken by Lewis Hamilton.

But he hasn’t been able to justify the fanfare in his first two F1 rounds with Williams, although the reason has been identified.

“I don’t think he knows how to manipulate the car yet,” Alex Jacques told the F1 Nation podcast.

“He was open in testing that it would take a while. I think it will take a few races.

“I don’t think he knows how to get a tune out of that car yet, and until he does, Albon will put away every opportunity that he’s given.

“He is so motivated by Sainz turning up. He is the least Albon version of himself that I’ve seen!

“Shoulders are back, confident, wild eyes - he is determined to take his chance.

“Carlos will need maybe six races to understand that ‘this setup change does this’.

“Alex has all of that knowledge. A roll bar change, what does that do? Alex already knows.

“‘Don’t change that, it inherently doesn’t work with our setup’, Alex already knows. Carlos needs to discover all of that.

“Until he does, he will be the second Williams.”

Alex Albon F1 improvement praised

The improving performance of his new teammate Albon is also a reason for Sainz’s lacklustre start.

Albon has long been considered a precocious talent but he is proving his mettle alongside a historically more successful teammate for the first time.

“That Albon camp turned themselves inside-out over the winter to extract every ounce of performance,” Laura Winter added.

“They had to stand up to a proven multiple-time race winner coming into the team.

“He had to show that he wouldn’t defer as a No2 driver.

“They looked at everything from nutrition, car setup, communication with the engineer, training, strength. Everything was looked at and the 1% added up.

“That’s what we are seeing, it’s Alex Albon 2.0. It’s paying off, they have worked so hard.

“Maybe there needed to be. He never needed to show it with Nicholas Latifi or Logan Sargeant.

“He had Franco Colapinto last year who suddenly started to edge ahead of him, and maybe that was the wake-up call that he needed. They then signed Sainz and the step had to be big. But he’s making it.”

However, Sainz’s difficulty in the Williams will not last forever.

“He is so methodical. He will do the due diligence. He will eventually unlock it,” Jacques insisted/

“There is no panic from him. Ferrari to Williams? I am not sure there is a bigger cultural shift in the paddock.

“One team is trying to modernise themselves, and one behemoth.

“He will be okay. But, in the first six races, it will be hard to be ahead of Alex who knows what buttons to press, and what avenues not to go down.

“Until Carlos knows what is the top three list of things to address, he will be the second car.”