The Ferrari habits slowing down Sainz's adaptation to Williams

F1

Carlos Sainz opens up on the driving issues that he has faced since switching to Williams's F1 car for 2025

Carlos Sainz during practice for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz during practice for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz admits he is having to relearn parts of his driving style to adapt to Williams, a process he blames for having failed to match team-mate Alex Albon so far in 2025.

The Spaniard spent five years at Ferrari before losing his drive to Lewis Hamilton ahead of the current season. It was Sainz’s longest stint with an F1 team after making his debut with Toro Rosso in 2015.

His move to Williams hasn’t gone as smoothly as expected, however, and Sainz has not been as competitive as his team-mate Albon so far.

In the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Sainz crashed out on the opening lap while Albon secured a strong fifth place. The Spanish driver followed that up with a 13th-place finish on the road in China, where Albon was eighth.

Both were promoted to 10th and seventh respectively following the disqualifications of Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton as well as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Ahead of the third round of the season in Japan, Sainz conceded that the habits he is bringing from Ferrari have been behind his difficulties to adapt to the Williams.

“I was used to a certain type of car at Ferrari, which made me end up driving, especially since 2022, in a very specific way, to extract everything about that car,” said Sainz on Thursday at Suzuka.

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“And you fall into habits in your driving, that then you apply to the next car.”

He added: “From a driving point of view, the biggest challenge you can have is relearning the way you approach a corner, because in your system you have a certain level of muscle memory and, especially under pressure in qualifying, you tend to go back to your muscle memory,” said Sainz on Thursday at Suzuka.

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“In practice you tend to try to change your driving style and I remember in 2022 when I had problems with the Ferrari, I managed to be fast in practice and then I would get to qualifying and that natural instinct comes back, then you need to be very disciplined and it’s something that takes time.

“It’s something that takes a lot of effort from a mental and driving perspective,” added the Spaniard.

Sainz admitted it could take him up to 10 races to fully adapt to his new car in order to be as competitive as he wants.

“First of all it depends on how far away it is from your natural driving style,” he said. “The further away, the longer that process is, and it also depends on what you consider to be adapted.

“If it’s 100%, which is when you close your eyes, you drive, and you’re naturally fast, then it takes even more than a year to get to that point.

“But for me that should take less than half a year, five to 10 races, and that’s the way I look at it.”

After scoring that single point in China, Sainz is heading into the Japanese Grand Prix 14th in the standings.