Carlos Sainz is losing one of his strengths thanks to Williams’ ‘years of underinvestment’

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Carlos Sainz was expected to emerge as the new team leader at Williams after joining from Ferrari, but the Spaniard has been outscored by Alex Albon by 54 points to date.

The Grove crew took full advantage of Ferrari opting to release Sainz at the end of the 2024 F1 season to get Lewis Hamilton, as Williams sought to move on from Logan Sargeant. Sainz rejected joining Alpine or Audi for Williams, too, after he failed to earn a front-running drive.

Moving to Williams was always set to see Sainz slip back down the order, as the team ranked ninth in the 2024 F1 constructors’ standings. Yet Albon has helped carry Williams to fifth this term, with the Grove squad also scoring more points in 2025 than from ‘18 to ‘24 combined.

Albon even now ranks seventh in the drivers’ standings after 16 of this year’s 24 rounds with 70 points so far. But Sainz only ranks 18th with 16 points ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Yuki Tsunoda (12), Franco Colapinto and Jack Doohan (0) scoring fewer points this year.

Carlos Sainz is struggling with Williams’ yaw limitations after ‘years of underinvestment’

Qualifying has been an even affair in the Williams garage, with Sainz and Albon tied at eight-all. But Albon leads Sainz 11-4 for Grand Prix results, excluding the Austrian GP as they both retired. The Austrian GP also marks the start of Sainz’s stretch of six point-less Grands Prix.

READ MORE: Williams star Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height

Sainz has not secured a point in a Grand Prix since he finished 10th in Canada. And The Race notes that part of the 31-year-old’s problem is his ongoing adaptation to the Williams FW47, particularly in long corners and the combination phase of braking and turning into the turns.

Yaw is a key limitation of Williams’ car for the 2025 F1 season, and the Grove squad are also continuing to pay the price of ‘years of underinvestment’ as they play catch-up to their rival teams. But while Albon can manage the issues more often than not, Sainz is still struggling.

Sainz prefers to deal with understeer, as the Spaniard knows how to carry a high mid-corner speed with a front end that does not bite hard as he turns in for the corners. But the FW47’s yaw limitations are now costing the four-time Grand Prix winner his strength in corner entry.

Alex Albon is leading Williams to their best season since 2017 next to Carlos Sainz

After four years racing for Ferrari, and driving a very different car to the Williams FW47 with its Mercedes engine, Sainz has only scored points in six of the first 16 Grands Prix this term. The Spaniard has also not finished higher in a Grand Prix than P8 in Saudi Arabia and Imola.

In the nine rounds since Sainz took P8 in the Emilia Romagna GP for his joint-best finish as a Williams driver, Albon has even finished the Dutch GP in P5, the Belgian GP in P6, the Italian GP in P7, the British GP in P8 and the Monaco GP in P9. Albon also took fifth place at Imola.

So, having seen what Albon can achieve in the FW47, Sainz plans to be more selfish and get big results for himself. Baku could be the next stage for the Madrid native to eye a big score, too, as he tries to pull away from sitting level on 16 points with Haas rookie Oliver Bearman.