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Williams are searching for answers for their Mercedes power unit after their performance deficit in Australia.
The main talking point from the opening race of the 2026 Formula 1 season was the performance levels of the Mercedes power unit around Albert Park.
Even though the Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli capitalised on their new power unit during the Australian Grand Prix, their customer teams and drivers did not see the benefits.
For the 2026 season, Mercedes are supplying their power unit to McLaren, Williams, and Alpine. Even though Lando Norris finished in fifth and Pierre Gasly was in tenth, the other four drivers with Mercedes power units did not score points.
Most notably, neither of the Williams drivers scored points in the Australian Grand Prix, as Alex Albon finished in 12th and Carlos Sainz was in 15th.
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Williams are trying to find the ‘maximum potential’ of their power unit
Ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Sainz spoke to Sky Sports Italia, where he was questioned about Williams’ deficit to Mercedes during the Australian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard revealed that from looking at the data after the opening race, Williams saw that Mercedes did not have more power, but instead had ‘more deployment’ from their battery.
Sainz went on to admit that Williams still needs to ‘extract their maximum potential’ from the Mercedes power unit at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Sainz said, “In terms of the power unit, they were clearly a step ahead of everyone else. We have an excellent relationship with Mercedes, but it’s true that we saw in the data that they didn’t have more power, but more deployment, and they managed to do that thanks to having their own engine and knowing how to extract its maximum potential.
“Now it is our job to find the same way they do it, but it was certainly a bit surprising.”
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Carlos Sainz tells Williams to ‘step up’ at the Chinese Grand Prix
After the Australian Grand Prix, in an unheard radio message, Sainz was quick to tell Williams that they need to ‘step up’ for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Sainz’s race engineer told his driver, “Tough one, mate, but it was the first one of the year. We have a lot of work, but we’ll be on it together as a team.”
However, the Spaniard quickly snapped back at his engineers by saying, “Yes, we’re learning, we are, but we need to step up. We have too many issues, too many things going on. We’re all going to make an effort for China so we can have a better one.”
With the slow start to the 2026 Formula 1 season for Williams, questions are now being asked whether Sainz should have joined Audi instead of signing for Williams after leaving Ferrari.
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