Williams driver Carlos Sainz missed the 2024 Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix, after being diagnosed with appendicitis that requires surgery. A year later and the Spanish driver had a “solid” race with a P8 finish. He also helped ensure double points for the team after again demonstrated his skill of towing someone through his DRS.
The Spanish driver celebrated with a P8 finish at F1 Saudi Arabian GP
Sainz had previously said that he is expecting to adapt to his new Formula 1 car within “five to ten” races. The reason being that he had to unlearn his habits from four years of driving at Ferrari. This past weekend brought with it the 5th race of a 24-race F1 season. The Spanish driver celebrated with a P8 finish having started from P6.
The Williams driver spoke in his written media session about his effort under the lights in Jeddah.
“Yeah, honestly, solid race.” stated Sainz. “Good tyre management on the medium, managing to dominate the first part of the race. Then we had to go through a lot of – well, we had a bit of a sloppy stop that cost me three or four seconds – but we managed to keep it cool, keep it under control, and from there on, just managing the hard tyre to the end, going through some slower cars.”
The team knew what was required
Back in 2023, Sainz was victorious at the Singapore Grand Prix. This owed a lot to what he called at the time “a cheeky DRS boost” for former teammate Lando Norris. This year’s Saudi Arabian GP saw Sainz again demonstrate this skill as he was asked to assist teammate Alex Albon. With Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar closing in on Albon, the team knew what was required.
“I think it was 12, 13 laps to go, the team asked me to give the DRS to Alex to make sure Hadjar didn’t have a chance of passing us.” explained the 30-year-old. “Bit of a tricky one because you always feel like it exposes you also, especially in a high-speed track where the DRS has a very big effect around here, and you always get a bit nervous about it because from there on, you cannot put a foot wrong if you do a mistake or hit a wall or whatever. But in the end, it worked.”
Having ensured the points for the team, Sainz then showed his pace on the final lap. Williams fans are surely excited for F1 to arrive in Miami with such form and consistency on show. The Spanish driver was also impressed by his effort: “I could show my best pace. In the last lap, I pushed on a little pace, which is a really good sign. So, yeah, I’m very happy.”
