Sainz doesn’t “expect any miracles” as Williams runs new front wing at Silverstone

Carlos Sainz hopes that a new front wing introduced for Silverstone will improve the Williams FW48, but the Spanish driver concedes that he doesn’t “expect any miracles.”

The Grove team has fallen behind in the midfield development race in recent weeks, and is waiting for a major package scheduled for the Azerbaijan GP, the first of the run of flyaway races at the end of the season. The new wing is an interim step that should help to find some performance, although Sainz downplayed its significance.

“I'm optimistic,” said Sainz when asked by Crash.net for his thoughts on the upgrade. “I think everyone in the team is hopeful that we can help and improve the situation.
 

“We obviously know it's not going to be a game changer in terms of we're not going to be suddenly the leaders of the midfield with this with this upgrade, but just get to try to get us back in the fight.

“I think the last two races we've been clear ninth team, a step behind the Haas and two or three steps behind the VCARBS that are fighting for points by themselves. We almost got lapped by the VCARB in Austria, so it shows how far we are.

“So it's quite telling, and I think that top end of the midfield is far, and this front wing should hopefully try and bring us closer. But I also don't expect any miracles.”

His team mate Alex Albon cautioned that the big step will have to wait until Azerbaijan. “Hopefully this weekend we close something back,” said the Thai/British driver. “We have a new front wing this weekend, so we've seen in the simulator at least it's been performing, so that's maybe our first chance to get closer to that midfield.
 

“On pure pace, we're going to have to wait till Baku. I think in terms of reliability though – I mean, it happened to Carlos unfortunately last weekend – the general reliability is so poor this this year that you just need to be within the mix of the midfield, which we've seen in some of the races earlier this year, to have a chance at score points.

“It's not like we're in standby mode until Baku, but we do rely on reliability issues to get into the points.”
Meanwhile Sainz said he’s been working hard to help the team progress, even running the new wing in the factory sim on Thursday morning.

“I think right now with my combination of experience, but also youth, where I'm willing to sacrifice a lot of my, let's say, private time to help the team and spend time in the factory,” he said. 

“It's what you need to try and develop a car and a team. This morning I was in the simulator at 8am, into the circuit at 12, spending two or three hours in the simulator trying to help the team understand the front wing, understand the energy.
 

“For that you need energy – personal energy, but you need commitment towards what you do. I feel like I have all of this, plus a good experience to try and help, but obviously you also need the methodology, and then everything inside the team to be working well, everything working in the right direction. 

“I think both Alex and I are working very well together, very close to one another, calling each other after every simulator session, trying to guide the team and point the team in the right direction. And I think in that sense we're doing everything we can to help the situation.”

Sainz also confirmed that his Austrian GP retirement had big implications: “I think it was a battery pack, but I also lost the engine, so one thing broke the other, or the other broke the one thing. They are both done and dusted.”