Carlos Sainz set the fastest time of Formula 1 testing on his Williams debut to the surprise of many in Bahrain.
Leaving Ferrari to join a midfield team was meant to be a bit of a momentary downgrade for Sainz, but he showed no signs of letting that get to him at testing.
Sainz spent much of his time on track attacking different setups and trying different things on shorter runs to get a better feeling for his car.
Even if it’s not completely representative, Williams had the fastest time over the three days, which is something no one would have believed could ever happen just a few years ago.
Sainz was frustrated with Williams after testing, feeling that he hasn’t been able to unlock enough of the potential out of his car.
On the other hand, Williams gave Sainz ‘good news’ by avoiding longer runs in Bahrain. No one quite knows how quick they might be.
READ MORE: Carlos Sainz explains what felt ‘really weird’ about his first 10 laps in Williams’ F1 car
Carlos Sainz was targeting Ferrari ‘revenge’ with Williams lap at F1 testing
With not long to go before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, a new era dawns for the fourth-oldest driver on the grid.
Sainz called Williams teammate Alex Albon ‘perfect’ and the two should work quite well together considering their similar age and experience in the sport.
It’s the Spaniard who is arriving from a slightly different situation that may be fuelled by his past. Riccardo Ceccarelli thinks he wants to prove a point to Ferrari.
“He had to settle for a second-rate team like Williams. Managing to stay ahead of everyone at that moment, they had nothing to hide,” he said.
“Often willingly, those teams know that they won’t be able to fight for the world championship, try to show off in the tests, also to attract a bit the attention, maybe even a bit of sponsorship or to try create a bit of interest. This is normal. For Sainz, every test is a challenge, a revenge.”
READ MORE: Ted Kravitz spotted something ‘interesting’ in Carlos Sainz’s Williams garage that never happened at Ferrari
Where can Carlos Sainz expect to compete with Williams in F1?
With the 2026 F1 regulations around the corner, big changes are going to be arriving soon, which could completely flip the order around.
Albon thinks Williams could be ahead in 2026 and they’ve invested heavily in their infrastructure to make sure that they’re in a position to do so.
Now that they have a top tier and dependable driver line-up, they should be in with a chance of scoring points at every race.
There’s a chance that they may even be the fifth-fastest team in Formula 1 after Bahrain testing, which would be a positive time for a team trending in the right direction.
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