Carlos Sainz, shadow work for the future of Williams

He is in the middle of a Grand Prix, but for Carlos Sainz, free practice sessions are pure tests with Williams to get clear answers to the mistakes the team has made this year with its car, something crucial so that they are not repeated in 2027 and that things go much better.

The Spanish driver already pointed out on Thursday three main areas that needed to be improved for next year: getting the car onto the track without delays in its manufacturing, without excess weight and for the car to be good aerodynamically. I was just wondering about that last point.because the best ones presented on the track this year did not give the results that the simulations indicated. And he’s working on it.

“We are carrying out configuration tests, which also help me get to know the car and the team better, to see what impact the changes we make have. In addition, we try to carry out correlation work with the simulator: compare the real behavior of the car with what the simulator indicates, and see how our models adjust to reality and what they predict,” he commented into the official F1 television microphone.

“As a driver, when there is no longer anything at stake, as is the case right now, you can always gain experience and learn through testing, something that is generally very difficult in F1, as testing is limited in this sport”added Carlos who doesn’t care exactly what final position he will occupy this year in the overall World Cup and races like Brazil, where he has zero options to score points due to the poor performance of his Williams. He wants to help the team and lead them in that comeback they need for next year.

“I have told the team that I don’t care about finishing fifteenth or seventeenth; what really counts is how much I can learn and how much they can learn, with the aim that both the team, the car, and myself, arrive in a better position next year,” he commented.

“It is an atypical Brazil”

On the first day of free practice, Carlos highlighted how “atypical” this event was due to the track conditions.

“The second session was complicated due to the low temperatures; it is a somewhat atypical Brazil, it was quite cold and the front tires suffered and it was easy to lock them up, so it took me a bit to adapt. But well, then I got a decent lap on the soft tyres, I did an acceptable long run and, at the end of the session, I managed to find some rhythm.”

This Saturday, in qualifying, the conditions could be much more difficult. There is more than 50% chance of rain for the fight against the clock. And pay attention to the race, where the probabilities increase to 90% or more.