While many people have spent the beginning of pre-season analysing Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton, the man he replaced is quietly going about his business further down the paddock.
Williams were the beneficiaries of Carlos Sainz being moved on by Ferrari to make way for the seven-time world champion.
While Lewis Hamilton has joined the Scuderia to try and win his eighth world championship, Sainz will have to temper his expectations in 2025.
Williams only finished ahead of Sauber in the constructors’ championship last year and had to walk a tightrope when it came to the cost of developing their car due to the number of crashes Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant and Franco Colapinto suffered throughout the year.
Last year’s Williams was overweight and the lowest point for the team was when Sargeant had to withdraw from the Australian Grand Prix as the team didn’t have a spare chassis for him after Albon had a heavy shunt in practice.
Williams appear to be in a much stronger position this year and not just because they’ve signed a race-winning driver alongside Albon.
Sainz has been impressed by what he’s seen at Williams so far and while very little can be read into lap times in testing, he’s looked quick compared to some of his expected midfield rivals.
Ted Kravitz was talking about the Spaniard on Sky Sports F1’s live stream of pre-season testing and noticed an ‘interesting’ change in his garage that was very different to his time at Ferrari.
Ted Kravitz notices difference in Carlos Sainz’s Williams garage compared to Ferrari
Kravitz was speaking about the 30-year-old’s garage situation at Williams and said: “Yeah, it’s interesting. I was kind of waiting to see what the Carlos Sainz influence would be at Williams, just in terms of the mood and the vibe around the place.
“What I found quite interesting is that not only have you got Carlos Sainz Snr fresh from his exploits at the Dakar, shame for him they couldn’t be longer, but that’s the way that particular competition goes.
“He’s at the back of the garage with the headset on, he’s been welcomed him to the Williams fold.
READ MORE: Williams driver Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height
“I wonder, this is maybe a storyline we’ll chase throughout the year, whether Williams are allowing Carlos Sainz a bit more latitude than maybe he was used to at Ferrari when they kind of kept the driver’s gangs a little bit separate from the way the engineers works.
“Maybe Williams is a bit more of us a relaxed atmosphere and allowing him a bit more latitude on that front.”
Williams already benefitting from Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari expertise
It’s interesting that Williams are giving Sainz more freedom than Ferrari in the garage and highlights his importance to the team that they’re willing to make concessions for the four-time race winner.
Sainz also has Roberto Mehri in the garage helping him understand the data the team are gathering throughout testing.
David Croft was impressed with Sainz after a private conversation and thinks he’s more than ready to adapt to his new situation at the Grove-based team after leaving Ferrari.
READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties
James Vowles is having to hold back Sainz to make sure he doesn’t get too carried away with his expectations for the team.
He’s one of the most intelligent drivers on the grid and it won’t take him long once the season starts to know exactly where Williams are in the pecking order.
