Despite the performance gap, Williams assures that Sainz and Albon have the same equipment

Despite encouraging winter tests at the end of which he seemed to take on the role of leader at Williams, Carlos Sainz struggles to get started in this 2025 season. Undoubtedly invigorated and buoyed by the arrival of an experienced driver at his side, Alex Albon momentarily gained the upper hand over his Spanish teammate.

The results of the first two Grands Prix demonstrate this. In qualifying, only Alex Albon has been able to place the FW47 in Q3 twice, while Carlos Sainz has only once to his name – in Australia – before a 15th place more recently in China.

In the race, the Englishman also appeared stronger than his garage neighbor, still struggling with the Williams, with two finishes in the points against an accident and a 10th place (helped by the disqualifications of gasly, Hamilton and Leclerc) for the Spaniard who pointed out in particular a lack of confidence on his part.

« As soon as I start to attack, I lose the feeling with the car in some corners and I struggle to improve the total lap time, he confided after the qualifications in China a few days ago. I'm trying to make the most of it, but the reality is that unfortunately I'm not there yet (…) I know I'll get there eventually with the car, now it's about shortening the process as much as possible »

Enough to raise a few theories about the equipment provided to the two drivers by Williams, with some unscrupulous people believing that Carlos Sainz would be at a "disadvantage" compared to Alex Albon.

« I want to clarify one thing., starts James Vowles, the main team of the Grove team. Alex [Albon] and Carlos [Sainz] use the same hardware. It's the same chassis, the same wings, or the same gearbox. Everything is identical on their car, the configuration... ». Going a little further in his explanation, the former Mercedes also reassured about the chassis used by the Madrilenian, confirming that it is indeed an evolution of last year's, just like for his teammate...

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