Williams have now decided not to fix key issue Carlos Sainz has been privately complaining about this season

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Williams Racing have enjoyed their best start to a Formula 1 campaign since 2016 this season.

Team principal James Vowles has made it clear throughout his tenure at Williams that his priority is to protect the long-term future of his outfit.

That’s included making some very difficult decisions, including replacing Logan Sargeant halfway through last season and promoting Franco Colapinto.

However, by the time the Argentine made his F1 debut at the Italian Grand Prix, Vowles already had an even more promising driver pairing to get excited about.

Alex Albon has been joined by four-time race winner Carlos Sainz this year, and the move is already paying off.

Vowles spent months convincing Sainz to sign for Williams, but the team have already surpassed their points tally from last year after just five Grand Prix weekends.

While it’s been a promising start for the Grove-based team, Vowles isn’t changing his outlook on how to run the team just because they could win the midfield battle in 2025.

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

Carlos Sainz’s low-speed Williams issues won’t be fixed in 2025

It’s well known that Williams are fully concentrating on the 2026 season and beyond when the sport’s regulations change.

It means that despite their impressive start to this year, their cars are unlikely to receive many major update packages throughout the campaign.

A report from Motorsport Italia has suggested that while the FW47 hasn’t been ‘abandoned’, progress is going to be limited, with the car no longer in the team’s wind tunnel.

Sainz has criticised how Williams’ car runs in low-speed sections, which is a trait that’s been carried over from previous machines, but this ‘will not be resolved in 2025’, due to how much time and investment it would require.

Speaking about Williams’ efforts this season, via The Race, Vowles explained, “Our balance is just not where it needs to be for the drivers to get the most out of the car, and it’s a difficult car to drive.

“We have some characteristics in the car that are still not at the right level.

“I don’t think we have the balance that we should do for the drivers, and we’re a little bit cornered on some of the tools that we’re using at the moment.

“The great thing is both Carlos and Alex are aligned on their thought process. So we have good direction. You get a problem when both drivers or even one’s using it as a tool to distract. Both are very clear on where the problems are.”

READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties

Carlos Sainz finding his feet after a tough start to life at Williams following Ferrari move

Half of the grid started the season with new teams in 2025, meaning that each driver had to quickly make adjustments to their new surroundings.

Formula 1’s testing rules meant that a post-season test in Abu Dhabi, a maximum of four days of TPC [testing of previous cars] running and 1.5 days of driving in Bahrain for pre-season was the maximum track time each driver could participate in.

Sainz quickly got up to speed in last year’s Williams in Abu Dhabi and looked very fast in Bahrain, but that didn’t immediately translate into performance.

He spun off on the opening lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and only scored his first point of the season in China thanks to three cars ahead of him being disqualified.

Ted Kravitz was worried about Sainz’s start at Williams, but he quickly turned that around in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

He outqualified Albon for the first time in Bahrain, before playing a key role in the Thai driver following home in Jeddah despite being under pressure from Isack Hadjar.

Sainz looks ready to challenge Albon on a weekly basis now, even if Williams won’t solve his concerns about their low-speed performance.