Anthony Davidson spotted Carlos Sainz ‘really struggling’ with worrying Williams issue during the Japanese Grand Prix

Williams Racing have had a very positive start to the 2025 Formula 1 season, but that’s almost entirely down to one driver.

For the first time since his final races of the 2020 season with Red Bull, Alex Albon has scored points in three consecutive races.

Williams have benefited from Albon securing P5, P7 and P9 finishes in Australia, China and Japan respectively, which sees the Thai driver sit above Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ championship.

Unfortunately, his new teammate Carlos Sainz hasn’t enjoyed the same luck after his move from Ferrari over the winter.

Sainz is having to change his driving style to get to grips with Williams’ 2025 car, and with the margins being so fine in F1’s midfield this year, even being a couple of tenths away from Albon is going to cost him.

The Spaniard narrowly missed out on reaching Q3 at the Japanese Grand Prix, but was handed a three-place grid penalty for blocking Hamilton on his final flying lap of the session.

At a circuit where overtaking proved to be nearly impossible, that prevented Sainz from adding to the point he scored in China.

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

Anthony Davidson worried about Carlos Sainz’s braking at the Japanese Grand Prix

Former F1 driver Anthony Davidson was covering the race for Sky Sports F1 (6/4 6:45 am) and keeping a close eye on the midfield battle at Suzuka.

He was watching the battle for the points and said: “Yeah, so we’re looking at this fight here, we’ve got Isack Hadjar in the Racing Bulls.

“So, he’s racing Lewis Hamilton, now offset, of course, with the pit stop.”

Davidson then interrupted himself after watching the Williams driver and said, “Oh, we’re just seeing this lock up there from Sainz, again in that last chicane.

“He’s really struggling on the brakes, isn’t he? Particularly with the brakes in this new car, to him in the Williams.”

LAP 26/53

A lock-up from Carlos Sainz in P9. Meanwhile, his team mate, Alex Albon, is not happy with how his race is playing out! 😬#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/NEkBz6YSS2

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 6, 2025

Sainz made up one position, overtaking Liam Lawson during the race to finish P13 and reflecting on his performance in his official press conference, he said: “Unfortunately, as expected, it was a difficult race stuck in traffic after a costly Saturday, with some details to polish in Qualifying and then the penalty.

“On a positive note, I think the pace was there today. I was comfortable with the car, managed to do some good overtakes and overall learnt a lot out there on track.

“Now the focus is to carry the positive feeling of this weekend on to the next GPs and build from here.

“Once I start putting everything together, I know better results will come.”

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

Did Carlos Sainz make the right decision joining Williams this season?

One of the biggest talking points of last season was where Sainz was going to be racing in 2025 after discovering that he had lost his seat to Hamilton before the campaign even started.

Sauber wanted to sign Sainz, but their car looks like the most difficult to drive on the grid right now, although it’s yet to be seen what impact Audi will have on their fortunes next year.

Another midfield team who held an interest in the Spaniard was Alpine, with Flavio Briatore desperate to sign Sainz.

However, they currently sit bottom of the constructors’ championship, having yet to score a point in each of the first three race weekends.

Some Red Bull staff wanted Sainz to replace Sergio Perez when it was clear that his performances had fallen below expectations.

The struggles that both Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have suffered in 2025 point to the fact that Sainz may have done himself a favour by not reuniting with Max Verstappen.