Guenther Steiner believes it’s going ‘under the radar’ how poor £8.5m-a-year F1 driver has been this season

The first double-header of the 2025 Formula 1 season is over, and the pecking order in the paddock is beginning to take shape.

McLaren are the clear front-runners after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri won the first two races of the year.

Mercedes appear to have taken a step forward and may just have a slight pace advantage over Red Bull and Ferrari, although it’s impossible to write off Max Verstappen given his ability to drive around the issues the RB21 has.

However, the rest of the grid are battling to be the best of the rest, with Alex Albon currently leading that fight.

The Williams driver scored points in Australia and China and sits sixth in the drivers’ championship ahead of both Ferrari drivers.

Albon was under pressure at the start of the year after Williams signed Carlos Sainz from Ferrari.

The Spaniard, who signed an £8.5m-a-year deal with Williams, was expected to arrive from Ferrari and take James Vowles’ team to the next level, but his first two races have been way below what he would have expected.

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

Guenther Steiner says Carlos Sainz’s performances have gone ‘under the radar’ this season

Former F1 team principal Guenther Steiner was speaking on The Red Flags Podcast after the Chinese Grand Prix.

He was asked about Sainz’s difficult start to the campaign and said: “Carlos Sainz, very under the radar at the moment, you’re absolutely right.

“Nobody speaks about it, it’s like, don’t talk about it. A little bit like Mercedes finishing on the podium, and nobody talks about it.

“It’s one of these things because in my opinion, Carlos at the moment is underperforming and I don’t know why.

“It’s very weird in qualifying because he’s a good race car driver, but the first two races were not…but it’s very under the radar. Nobody actually mentioned it. You know, you’re right.

“Let’s give him a few more races before we judge him.”`

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

How Carlos Sainz’s 2025 F1 season compares to Williams teammate Alex Albon

Albon has deservedly earned praise for his first two races of the season having scored a P5 and P7 finish so far.

Williams staff have noticed a change in Albon since Sainz’s arrival, with the prospect of coming up against a stronger teammate seemingly forcing him to focus even harder on improving as a driver.

For Sainz, however, the transition has proved more difficult than first expected.

He set the fastest time during pre-season testing, although that doesn’t mean an awful lot in the grand scheme of things.

Some start to the season for Albono 😮‍💨

Let’s see what we can do for the rest of the season 👊 pic.twitter.com/942kRKUUlY

— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) March 25, 2025

Sainz scored his first point of the season in Shanghai, benefiting from three drivers being disqualified ahead of him, including both Ferraris.

However, Ted Kravitz believes something isn’t right with Sainz after listening to his team radio at the end of the last race.

Williams have two weeks to figure out why he’s slower than Albon before heading to Suzuka, but the signs are good for Vowles that his team could finish fifth in the constructors’ championship this year.