The Spaniard was 18th in qualifying in Hungary and revealed that his car has been carrying a gearbox problem since Friday. Williams fell in Q1 while Aston Martin took a step forward with their upgrades.
Carlos Sainz has uncovered Williams's complex situation at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Spaniard was eighteenth in qualifying and revealed that his car has been carrying a rear end problem related to the gearbox that has turned the entire weekend into a real nightmare: "I haven't driven the same car two laps in a row all weekend, so it's very difficult to optimize" declared Sainz after the session.
The Williams driver explained that, in addition to the FW48's structural limitations, his car has had unpredictable behavior every time it went out on track: "On my side of the garage we've had a problem in the rear of the car related to the gearbox for which we haven't found a solution. In every session I've had a different balance due to something happening at the rear of the car. It's very unpredictable and very difficult to set up" he stated.
The Madrid native already expected Hungary to be the most complicated circuit of the season due to the car's lack of downforce and balance issues, but reality exceeded the most pessimistic expectations: "I already expected that in terms of pure performance and balance limitations for this circuit it would be the worst of the season, I'm not surprised because it confirms the problems we've had all year: the lack of downforce and balance issues" he explained.
Sainz ruled out that the lock ups suffered during practice were a consequence of an aggressive setup: "No, they are fundamental car problems that force us to have huge changes in balance and downforce. We know perfectly well what our main limitations are and what would need to be done to solve them" he stated.
The Spaniard was clear about the short term improvement options: "We have to wait for Baku to find some kind of solution, but more importantly, for next year's car. Honestly I don't think the Baku upgrades are going to solve many of these problems" he declared.
Sainz's words paint a bleak picture for Williams. The Grove team has lost ground to its direct rivals in recent races and Hungary confirmed the change in trend in the midfield (while Fernando Alonso managed to get the renewed Aston Martin into Q2, both Sainz and Alex Albon were eliminated in the first round).
Williams faces the summer break with the feeling that the FW48's limitations are too deep to be corrected with just an update. The team needs a change in car design philosophy for next year if it wants to compete in the midfield again.
Sainz's situation is especially complicated because the gearbox problem has prevented the team from finding a consistent setup: "Even optimizing I think today I would only have found one or two tenths, which would still have left us very far behind. We know that we simply lack performance" he concluded.
Williams will have to work intensively during the break to try to solve the FW48's problems, but Sainz is realistic about the short term improvement options. The team's future lies in a completely new car for the 2027 season.
