Azerbaijan GPCarlos Sainz points out the major limitation that worries Williams in Baku
The Madrid driver prioritized the use of medium tires during his simulations in Free Practice 2, where he finished eleventh. Sainz claimed to be happy with the long runs, but that there is still ground to cover with the softs.
In the trend of the season that Carlos Sainz faces with Williams, good days constantly alternate with bad days, often even between sessions within the same day. This Friday, it is hard to find a label, as the development of the training day in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix made the first session almost testimonial, reserving most of the conclusions for the afternoon.
Sainz, who had finished eighth in the morning session, could only be eleventh in the second free practice, in both cases behind his teammate Alex Albon. His best time of 1:42.255 placed him as the last of the competitors less than a second from the time with which Lewis Hamilton led on Friday, although the Madrid driver was one of several competitors who chose to make their first qualifying simulations with the medium tire, instead of the soft. At the end of the session, he starred in a fun viral moment by accidentally stopping in front of the Alpine box.
"Today has been an interesting day for us. Free Practice 1 was quite chaotic, and we were constantly caught by yellow flags" Sainz stated at the end of the on-track activity. "We changed quite a few things, and Free Practice 2 was a better session. I'm happy with our long runs and the medium tire", a satisfaction that could be useful in a weekend where this compound does not seem to pose a definitive disadvantage for a lap compared to the soft.
Just in case, Sainz would also be quite satisfied if they could replicate the feelings with the theoretically faster compound, which has not been the case so far, as in so many other occasions throughout 2025: "As soon as we put on the soft tire at the end, as always, we couldn't set lap times, so we need to find something more for qualifying. (..) Clearly, it's a limitation, and it's something we have to keep working on".
"I think the soft and the medium are going to be very similar tomorrow, so we might see different approaches, and that will add spice to qualifying" Sainz concluded, in front of a layout that resisted him during his time at Ferrari, not going beyond the fifth positions achieved in the 2018 editions, with Renault, and 2023. A position like that on Saturday or Sunday would be a real success, but for now, the goal seems to be to place the car among the 10 fastest, something that Williams is indeed capable of achieving.
Fotos: Williams F1
