CARLOS SAINZ EXPOSES KEY QUALIFYING PROBLEM BEHIND WILLIAMS’ RACE WOES
Carlos Sainz’s heroic fightback to score a point in Singapore highlights Williams’ strong race pace. The Spaniard reveals a deeper car issue, not just tyre warm-up, is the root cause of the team’s recurring qualifying struggles.
After only scoring one point in Singapore, Carlos Sainz's valiant comeback from the end of the grid revealed a deeper tale of speed, tenacity, and a recurring qualifying error that keeps Williams from reaching his full ability on race day.
Late on Saturday, Williams' Singapore weekend took a serious hit. Sainz and teammate Alex Albon were both demoted after their FW47s were discovered to have violated regulations with a non-compliant rear wing, after qualifying 13th and 12th, respectively.
With Albon starting from the pit lane and Sainz dropping to 18th on the grid, what had appeared to be a strong foundation for a points finish abruptly turned into an uphill battle.
Lewis Hamilton laments the passing of his cherished dog Roscoe.
From Penalty Suffering to Salvage Points
But the Spaniard made a subtly stunning comeback on Sunday night beneath the floodlights. He pushed his way through the pack during a massive 50-lap run on medium tyres, fending off Oliver Bearman's late pressure on fresher rubber and finishing in 10th place after a strategic switch to softs. Few had anticipated this hard-won point.
After the race, Sainz said, "I was hoping for points from 13th, but definitely less from 18th."
"To be transparent, each simulation we ran indicated that we needed safety cars at the appropriate times to score points, but today's pace was so excellent that we were able to salvage a point from a challenging Singapore.
"I think we were one of the only midfield cars to be able to make it through the field because we had such a great pace and a fantastic overtake at the finish, but it was a one-stop that actually did not materialise."
It served as a subtle but important reminder that Sainz's calm execution and Williams's race-day form remain good, even though Williams might not have performed well in qualifying.
Qualifying Issues: Tyres or Car?
Even with his impressive recovery effort, Sainz was frank about the cause of Williams' qualifying issues. Although tyre warm-up problems are frequently cited, the Spaniard thinks the issue is more deeply rooted in the car's architecture.
"I believe that a P7 or P8 would have been the perfect weekend. In actuality, we had a lot of pace during the race," he clarified.
Once more, it is possible that we could have been confused with [Andrea Kimi] Antonelli in Baku if we had begun close to him.
However, the truth is that we are attempting to strengthen our qualifying area of weakness. We continue to criticise the preparation of the tyres.
After a few races, and as I learn more about the car, I feel that it is a weakness of the vehicle rather than a weakness of turning the tyre on and off.
And most likely, that quality flaw is what gives us the advantage in the race and allows us to complete 50 laps on a medium.
You can not have it all, therefore. To put ourselves in a better position for Sundays, we simply need to reverse-engineer the car a little.
His analysis highlights a difficult trade-off: the FW47's single-lap potential may be hampered by the same traits that make it such a competitive race vehicle.
A Group That Is Still Changing
Williams had several setbacks in Singapore besides the rear-wing error. The team's difficulties were exacerbated by Sainz's individual qualifying lap mistakes and Albon's FP1 brake problem.
The latter, however, stayed tactful and prioritised development above resentment.
"Is there any animosity between any of us?" he continued. "I believe the team recognises that we continue to make mistakes in these types of situations that might occur.
We are working to improve as a team this year, and yesterday was undoubtedly a mistake for all of us. We lost a Q3 because of my blunders in my qualifying lap. Regarding the legality of the rear wing on both vehicles, the crew made a mistake. An error with the brakes in FP1 involving Alex [Albon].
As long as we do not make the same mistakes twice and keep learning, you know that we are all still making mistakes. I believe that is the key for us.
Sainz's tenacity and frank observations give promise as Williams develops more. The FW47's race-day skills might give the Grove team a consistent challenger for points if they can solve their qualifying puzzle.
For the time being, Sainz's Singapore point serves as a reminder that this team is capable of fighting even from the back.
DISCOVER WHY JONATHAN WHEATLEY BELIEVES RED BULL’S STRUGGLES FUEL MAX VERSTAPPEN’S OUTRAGE
Jonathan Wheatley claims Max Verstappen's criticism of the "anti-racing" 2026 regulations reflects Red Bull's early struggles.
Jonathan Wheatley thinks Max Verstappen’s harsh words about Formula 1’s 2026 rules say as much about Red Bull’s current struggles as they do about the new regulations.
Verstappen hasn’t held back at all; he’s been one of the loudest voices against F1’s new energy-harvesting era, calling the rules “anti-racing” during pre-season testing.
Just two races in, Verstappen’s only got eight points. After Shanghai, he walked away without scoring anything. He finished the sprint race in ninth just outside the points, mostly because he lost ground when his car bogged down from a lack of battery power right off the line.
Things didn’t get better in the main race. Verstappen tried to claw his way back, but he had to park his RB22 because of an ERS cooling problem.
He didn’t sugarcoat his feelings. Verstappen slammed the new energy management rules, energy harvesting, and super clipping, all of it, as “fundamentally flawed". He called the racing itself a "joke". For him, the whole thing’s starting to feel more like Mario Kart than real racing.
“I swapped the simulator for my Nintendo Switch and have been practising Mario Kart, actually!” Verstappen joked when someone asked if sim time gives drivers an advantage now. “Honestly, I’m getting good at finding the mushrooms. The blue shell’s a bit tougher, but I’m working on it. No rockets yet, but they’re coming.”
He also warned F1’s leaders that these new rules could “eventually ruin the sport; it’ll come back to bite them.”
Not everyone’s moved by Verstappen’s complaints. Juan Pablo Montoya went as far as telling him, "There's the door.” Guenther Steiner, the former Haas boss, said it came off as nothing more than “toys out of the pram when it doesn’t go his way.”
Meanwhile, things look very different for Charles Leclerc. He’s been fighting for podiums in Australia and China and is loving the new era.
“I really enjoyed it,” Leclerc said. “Yeah, sometimes the overtakes feel a little fake if someone messes up their battery management; you get this huge speed difference. But we’re all learning when to push and when to risk it, and that’s creating some great overtaking spots. Today was a perfect example.”
Wheatley, watching all this, figures opinions on the new rules depend on how well one's doing. If you ask the guys up front, Ferrari and Mercedes, they love the new racing. The teams chasing them? Not so much.
He told reporters after the Chinese Grand Prix, “Talk to the Ferrari drivers; they’ll say it was a brilliant day. If you’re not winning, you just want to be able to race cleanly. Honestly, I didn’t see anything fake; every driver was fighting hard and fair. The midfield battles are fantastic; there’s a lot to like.”
And as for Verstappen’s comments? Wheatley gets it. When you’re struggling, it’s easy to point fingers.
FRED VASSEUR REJECTS TEAM ORDERS AS FERRARI DRIVERS DUEL CLEANLY IN SHANGHAI
Lewis Hamilton secures his first Ferrari podium at the Chinese GP as Fred Vasseur praises his drivers' clean racing.
Fred Vasseur felt pretty good about Ferrari’s performance in the Chinese Grand Prix, especially the way his drivers fought each other so cleanly, even though, as he admitted, it could’ve ended up looking like a disaster.
Ferrari started the race in third and fourth, and, right from the get-go, both drivers didn’t hold back. They actually got ahead of the Mercedes for a bit, but it didn't last; they ended up getting passed again. In those early laps, the two Ferraris were stuck between the Mercedes cars: Kimi Antonelli stretched his lead while George Russell stayed glued to their tails.
Lewis Hamilton led George Russell early on, and those two swapped places a bunch of times. Ferrari’s drivers did, too. There were moments when they went side by side, pushing the absolute limit, without ever making contact. Honestly, they kept at it almost the entire race. The last big move happened on Lap 40. Hamilton passed Leclerc and held onto third place, finally putting a red car on the podium for the first time this year.
Even with all that fighting, both Ferraris came home without a scratch. The drivers both said they had a blast; it was tough, hard racing, but always clean.
Vasseur, who runs the show at Ferrari, was quick to praise them. “Huge respect for both of them,” he told the press. “They’re total pros, and it just made sense to let them race. Sure, sometimes you risk looking stupid if things go wrong, but that’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
He was clear about his philosophy early in the season: you’ve got to let the drivers race. No team orders from the pit wall, just a chance to let them build up the team spirit by pushing each other. “This is how you make real progress,” Vasseur said. “As long as they race like they did today, I won’t freeze the positions. Even on the radio, they were telling us they were having fun.”
Once Hamilton got past Leclerc on Lap 40, the order was set. Hamilton got his first podium for Ferrari, which was huge even if his first season with them had been tough so far. Vasseur wasn’t worried, though.
“It’s so much easier the second year,” Vasseur explained. “He’s been part of the project for a while now; he started working with us as far back as mid-2025, doing simulator runs. He’s got more of a stake in this now compared to when he just turned up last January, and the car was already built. He knows everyone better, and working with the team is just smoother.”
But Vasseur knows Ferrari still has a big gap to Mercedes. The team has shown some solid pace in these first two races, but closing that gap will take time. “We’ve got to keep chipping away with those small gains, that’s how we’ll catch up.”
Right now, Ferrari’s battles out on track aren’t causing any problems. As the season goes on, though, Vasseur’s going to have to keep a lid on any tension because the championship’s heating up. Ferrari trails Mercedes by 31 points, and Leclerc and Hamilton are both chasing Russell for the drivers’ title, sitting 17 and 18 points behind.
If Ferrari’s going to have any shot at beating Mercedes, they’ll need to be on it every step of the way and stay ready to jump if their rivals make a mistake.
