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Ted Kravitz has suggested that Williams driver Carlos Sainz might be one of the brightest drivers on the Formula 1 grid after the Australian Grand Prix.
Aston Martin’s struggles through pre-season and in Melbourne largely covered up how poor Williams’ start to the season has been.
James Vowles’ team failed to make it to the Barcelona shakedown, and it’s clear that the Williams car is very overweight compared to its rivals.
What would you rate the Australian Grand Prix out of 10?
Carlos Sainz didn’t even get to take part in qualifying, while Alex Albon was never in any danger of reaching the top 10 shootout at the Australian Grand Prix.
The pair finished Sunday’s race in 12th and 15th, but Ted Kravitz has praised Sainz’s decision-making despite never looking like he was going to score any points.
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Carlos Sainz’s front wing change at the Australian Grand Prix deserves huge credit
Kravitz was reflecting on the first race weekend of the 2026 season on Ted’s Notebook.
When reviewing how Williams fared in Australia, Kravitz said: “I have to tell you that it’s been a downer. Carlos Sainz was absolutely gutted.
“Alex Albon finished 26 seconds behind Esteban Ocon in 11th. They haven’t scored any points. Alex Albon P12, Sainz P15. Both pitted under the virtual safety car, which was good.
“Carlos said, “I can’t race like this.” Sainz, by the way, had a new battery and control electronics on the grid, trolled home in 15th and was very disappointed.
“Alex Albon was also very disappointed and yeah, ‘I can’t race like this.’ Well, neither of them can, and neither of them wants to.
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“So, something drastic is needed, I think, at Williams if they’re to stay in this lofty position of fifth in the constructors.
“The Carlos Sainz front wing replacement was because the front flap active aero mode, he had a dicky active aero mode on the front wing.
“Carlos said, ‘Look, I’ve learned as much as I’m going to learn. You might as well change it for a front-wing flap actuator that works.’
“So, that’s why they changed it. But he did lose a lot of race time.”
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Carlos Sainz reflects on ‘tough weekend’ for Williams as Australian Grand Prix becomes ‘test session’
There were plenty of drivers to focus on during Sunday’s race start, but Sainz has gone under the radar with how well he got off the line.
Max Verstappen struggled to charge his battery, and watched Sainz surge past him before the first corner.
The Spanish driver was up to P12 from the last row of the grid on the opening lap, but slowly slipped down the order.
Talking about his first race of the season in his official post-race debrief, Sainz revealed that the front wing problem isn’t new and said: “It’s been a tough weekend with too many issues across every session. We had a great start, and I managed to climb to P12 in the initial laps.
“Unfortunately, we had an issue with the front wing, which cost us all the aero balance, and the understeer I picked up meant we started degrading the tyres massively.
“From then on, it became a test session for me to be honest. This front wing issue is not new, and we need to focus on solving these sorts of problems quickly if we want to improve in the short term.
“We’ve got homework ahead of us, but I trust we can put together a good plan to make those improvements.”
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