Williams team principal James Vowles said Carlos Sainz has “room to go” when it comes to adapting to the FW47, and acknowledged the team has “more to do to help him get comfortable.”

Sainz scored his first point as a Williams driver at the Chinese Grand Prix, albeit after three drivers were disqualified after the race on Sunday.

Carlos Sainz has ‘room to go’ to adapt to Williams FW47

After an unfortunate crash behind the Safety Car in Australia, Sainz finished 13th on the road in the Chinese Grand Prix before subsequently being promoted to P10.

He took to team radio to tell the team he is “a lot faster than this” after the race, with the Spanish driver’s peak performance not yet aligning with that of Williams.

Team principal Vowles again heaped praise on his new driver for the work he has helped with behind the scenes at Williams, while acknowledging there is more to do to get him up to speed.

“There’s elements that I wanted to make sure the world really realised how great Carlos is under the scene,” Vowles explained on Sky F1.

“Because when a driver has a difficult race, they internalise, they feel responsible for it, and Carlos did the opposite.

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“He came out and wanted to help Alex get a strong result, and I think it’s clear that he still has more room to go to adapt to the car, and we have more to do to help him get comfortable.”

On the other side of the garage, Alex Albon has started the season by scoring more points than he managed in the entirety of 2024, and regarding his performances so far, the team principal believes he has “stepped up” to the challenge of facing a four-time Grand Prix winner as his team-mate.

“For me, he didn’t put a foot wrong,” Vowles said of Albon.

“What I like about Alex, helmet off, he’s joking, he’s funny. Helmet on, he’s absolutely goal driven, and wanted to show the world that he’s deserving of his place in the sport and more importantly, against Carlos.

“So we have to say, [Sainz] has won a race more recently than I have. He is the benchmark, and Alex is right there performing next to him.

“When I first joined in ’23, I saw Alex in that year raise his game. I would say again, as we went through Bahrain testing and into Melbourne, Alex has stepped up again. There’s no doubt about it.”

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