Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr. criticized his racing team for not operating at a high level, expressing his frustrations with the team.
Sainz got booted out of Ferrari in favor of the legendary Lewis Hamilton, leaving the Spaniard high and dry as a free agent in a limited market.
The doors to Mercedes and Red Bull were quickly shut in his face, leaving Sainz mid-table options rather than a racing-winning, top team.
He took a chance on Williams, who is in the middle of a rebuild under James Vowles and has aspirations of reaching the top once again.
Despite operating at an elite level in Formula 1 for years, Sainz has struggled in the first half of the season to assert himself.
He sits in 16th place with 16 points, while his teammate Alex Albon is in an impressive eighth place, scoring 54 points.
Many expected Sainz to take Albon’s place as team leader, but this has not yet happened.
“We’re not operating at the level we should be operating at in Formula 1,” Sainz told DAZN.
“More than reliability, they’re small issues, small mistakes that we all make a little bit between us.
“One time it’s one of us, another time it’s another. We see that the others have far fewer problems.
“They are really just silly problems, that we have to keep improving as a team and we will. But we do see that when strange things don’t happen we are there in the fight and we have to keep fighting.”
Sainz is a proven race-winner who is one of the more cerebral drivers on the grid, though his wealth of experience and informational processing power is not translating.
He doesn’t give up easily, though, and appears willing to keep fighting with the team.
“There have always been positive feelings with the car. We know the pace is there and that when things aren’t going well for us, we’re fast,” he added.
“It’s always important. Obviously, we’re driven by results, and results are the only thing that counts. But if I’ve seen anything this year, it’s that I’m not lacking in rhythm, and I just need things to stop happening to us.”
Sainz is a character who accepts responsibility when he is at fault, but also speaks his mind when the team isn’t holding up their end of the bargain.
Williams will need to meet the Spanish driver’s lofty standards or risk losing him altogether.
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