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Guenther Steiner once again has suggested that Carlos Sainz made the wrong decision by joining Williams when he left Ferrari at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
The Australian Grand Prix was a tough start to the season for Williams, as they were the only team to see both of their drivers finish without scoring any points.
Carlos Sainz could only come home in P15, with teammate Alex Albon in 12th, despite five retirements during the race.
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Sainz was praised by Ted Kravitz for experimenting with a front wing change during Sunday’s Grand Prix, but it’s an unfortunate position for the Spanish driver to be in that he can sacrifice so much time during a race when he will feel that he should be challenging for points.
Guenther Steiner has been speaking about the 31-year-old and doubled down on the fact that he should have chosen new manufacturer, Audi, over Williams when he was replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari.
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Guenther Steiner still believes Carlos Sainz should have joined Audi over Williams
Steiner was asked whether Sainz should have gone to Audi on The Red Flags Podcast after what he saw at the Australian Grand Prix and answered, ‘Gas’, during their Gas or Brake section.
In the past, Steiner has claimed Sainz should have signed for Audi when he knew he was leaving Ferrari over going to Williams, and explained further: “I think that the short-term decision to go to Williams maybe was right, but mid-to-long term, I think Audi’s the better place.
“In the end, it’s a big car manufacturer. They got even the regulations changed for them, so they could enter, so there is a lot to be said about that one.
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“And obviously, they did a good job, but nobody knew what they were doing. But, to build your own engine, and they started pretty late with the engine compared to Red Bull-Ford, and Mattia [Binotto] got there just one and a half years ago, and obviously, that was not all perfect when he got there.
“They did a good job, but I think they’re taking it seriously what they’re doing. You can just see what they’re doing; everything is top-notch from the presentation and all of that stuff.
“I was surprised how good they were!”
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Alex Albon tries to allay fears about Williams at the Chinese Grand Prix
There is a clear pecking order emerging already in the paddock with three clear groups of teams.
The top four manufacturers have an advantage over the midfield, with Cadillac and Aston Martin bringing up the rear.
Williams’ problem is that they currently straddle the midfield and F1’s backmarkers, when this time last year, they were the best of the rest behind the leading teams.
Speaking ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix in F1’s official pre-race press conference, Sainz’s teammate Albon said: “It’s not where we want to be as a team, we are disappointed where we’ve started.
“It’s just how it goes sometimes, we’ve got a clear plan to come back. I think the gap to the top of the midfield is quite large.
“We know where the issues are, and I think it will take a bit of time, more than we would like, but we have a clear strategy to come back.”
Meanwhile, Gabriel Bortoleto, who was eventually signed by Audi when they couldn’t bring in Sainz, reflected on the team’s first F1 weekend and said: “Going to Q3 on our first try and scoring points, it is something very positive and I was extremely happy to achieve that on my first weekend [with Audi].
“I feel much more relaxed [in my second year]. I’m enjoying much more now than at this moment last year, and hopefully we can keep it going like this.”
It will be fascinating to see at the end of the season whether Williams or Audi come out on top in the midfield battle.
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