Carlos Sainz has cast doubt on Williams’ chances of scoring points in the Hungarian Grand Prix, admitting the team lacks the outright pace for a top-10 finish after a disappointing qualifying session.
The Spaniard will line up 13th on Sunday’s grid after narrowly missing out on Q3 by just 0.094 seconds. Sainz was the quicker of the two Williams drivers, with Alex Albon ending up dead last after a scrappy Q1.
But Sainz isn’t expecting any miracles in this afternoon’s 70-lap race on a circuit that has so far exposed the limitations of Williams’ FW47.
“We ended up reverting back on a lot of the set-up items we tried during the weekend,” Sainz explained. “We went back to a car I know and more or less did the maximum that was available to us today with P13.”
“It’s been a very difficult track for the Williams so far but we knew that [would be the case] coming into here and we just need to maximise whatever we have.”
“Realistically speaking, we don’t have the pace”
Despite his solid qualifying effort, Sainz offered a sobering assessment of the team’s race prospects.
“We’re going to try our best to get a point or two, but realistically speaking we don’t have the pace to do so,” he said. “But the races, you always need to race them and see what we can do.”
©Williams
The 30-year-old’s comments highlight the broader challenge facing Williams at the twisty, downforce-heavy Hungaroring – a track that clearly isn’t playing to the car’s strengths.
“We knew it was going to be a tough track for us here and it’s been one of those weekends where we’ve been chasing it and I haven’t felt that comfortable in the car,” added Albon.
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“We went back to the FP1 car for qualifying as that’s where I felt it was most predictable, but maybe the track has evolved since then. We were too slow on the outlap, then there was a bit of rear tyre degradation and other things, so it was a bit scrappy.
“It’s going to be tricky from P20 but maybe we will get some rain. Let’s see.”
Vowles Hints at Rain and Race-Day Recovery
Williams team principal James Vowles acknowledged the team had pursued two different directions in setup across its cars, using Albon’s qualifying run as a learning opportunity.
“With Alex, we tried a different direction and a different way of working the tyres, and we learned a lot thanks to his efforts,” Vowles said. “But it will come to us [on Sunday]."
Despite the disappointing grid positions, Vowles expressed cautious optimism about race-day potential, especially with rain in the forecast.
“The car in a race condition should be better than where it is today,” he said.
“It also looks like there’s rain on the forecast and in that condition, your qualifying place is less important than the ability to get the execution right on the day.”
Whether through strategic execution or a shakeup in the weather, Williams will be hoping Sunday brings opportunity – though both drivers and their team are keeping expectations firmly in check.
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