Carlos Sainz’s debut for Williams during the Australian Grand Prix might have been shortlived, but he did do something to help his team achieve a top-five finish.
The Spaniard crashed out of the race after just a handful of laps, having lost the rear of his car due to a “torque surge” exiting the final corner.
Teammate Alex Albon finished the race in fifth place to take home 12 points, after managing to nail the tyre strategy in the changing conditions.
Williams decided to pit Albon for a set of Medium tyres as the track tried out, then they timed the next stop as the rain hit the track again to perfection, which enabled him to jump the cars ahead including Lance Stroll.
The team was also fortunate that both Ferrari’s and Oscar Piastri dropped out of the top five, having got their calls wrong. Sainz played a key role in ensuring Williams pitted Albon at the right time, giving them feedback on when he thought it was the right moment to pit.
Damon Hill reacted to how Sainz helped on social media website X (formerly Twitter), sending him a one-word message after seeing his post on the race.
Damon Hill calls Carlos Sainz a ‘star’ after helping Williams on Australia GP strategy
Sainz played an important role in convincing Williams when it would be best to pit Albon, based on when the rain would hit the track in the closing stages of the race.
“I tried to help from the pit wall and I’m already thinking about China next week!” wrote Sainz on his X post.
Hill said Sainz is a ‘star’ when reposting his message on X, in which Sainz explained that he helped Williams strategists on the pit wall during the race for Albon.
Williams also inflicted significantly less damage at this year’s Australian Grand Prix compared to last year, when they were forced to withdraw one car due a lack of spare parts.
Commenting on Instagram, Hill wrote: “Good start to the 25 campaign, only very little damage.”
Alex Albon loses demoted to fifth after Mercedes protest
Albon finished fifth on the road after a late overtake by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, although this would briefly be fourth for the Williams driver because of a five-second time penalty issued to the latter for an unsafe release into the path of Nico Hulkenberg during his final pit stop.
Mercedes lodged a right of review post-race, which was upheld by the stewards. According to the official decision document, the team provided evidence from the onboard camera located in the roll hoop of Antonelli’s car which was not available at the time the penalty was issued.
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After reviewing the video evidence, the stewards deemed that Antonelli had left his pit box with enough space for Hulkenberg and did not endanger any mechanics.
As a result, it meant Albon was demoted to fifth, while Antonelli would finish fourth on his F1 debut having also come close to challenging for a podium.
