Sainz compares himself to Hamilton: 'I'm getting up to speed quickly'

16:06, 26 Apr

byNorberto Mujica

Carlos Sainz first season at Williams has gone upward since his lowly season start in Australia. He embraces Alexander Albon's pressure as it 'drives the team forward', and also assesses his adaptation process is quicker than 'other people who've changed teams'.

During the first rounds, Sainz was unable to beat Albon in race trim or in qualifying, something the Spaniard has been turning around since Bahrain, with Sainz leading Albon in Jeddah to a double points finish for Williams using a great strategy to keep Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar at bay.

'Albon pushes me out of my comfort zone'

In conversation with media like GPblog after the race in Saudi Arabia, Sainz commented on Albon's performance and its impact on the team.

"He has good experience and he's driving at such a high level. He keeps impressing me in qualifying, some corners he does. He's really, really on a good limit of the car."

"I'm having to push myself too, out of my comfort zone. I think we're pushing each other along the way and I think it's bringing the team forward. So yeah, I'm glad I'm contributing and hopefully it just keeps getting better from here."

'I'm getting up to speed quicker than other drivers who've changed teams'

Regarding his adaptation at Williams, Sainz reveals that regardless of his first strong outings for Williams in a testing environment, when it came to push, he'd be lacking in the first few races.

"Honestly, more or less how I expected to get on. I knew the first part of the season was always going to be tough, even if I had a very strong Abu Dhabi and Bahrain test with the team, I knew that when it came to Q2, Q3, my lack of experience with the car, one way or another, would show. And it showed mainly in Australia."

But, the progression was able to be seen from Japan onwards, which prompts him to believe his adaptation process is going quicker than 'other people's'. Like Lewis Hamilton's, his replacement at Ferrari, perhaps?

"I think China had just a very poor weekend, through things that I still don't understand. And then in Japan, honestly I was within half a tenth of Q3. And then Bahrain and Saudi, yeah, Q3, and getting close to the maximum out of the car. So I think out of the people who've changed teams, to be honest, I think I'm getting up to speed pretty quickly."