Carlos Sainz has revealed he was “a bit nervous” that he would be “exposed” when Williams instructed him to help Alex Albon in Formula 1‘s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Sainz sustained his strongest weekend since his winter switch to Williams in Jeddah as he crossed the line in eighth place to head a double points finish for the team.
Having qualified on the third row in sixth, Sainz was powerless to stop Lewis Hamilton, his successor at Ferrari, and Lando Norris’ recovering McLaren overtaking him.
The Spaniard was on course to bring his Williams home behind the leading contenders, though, when he was directed to drop back to aid his team-mate Albon behind.
Albon was starting to come under intense pressure from Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls, but he was able to utilise the DRS from Sainz to protect ninth position to the end.
“A solid race, good tyre management on the Medium, managing to dominate the first part of the race,” Sainz reviewed.
“Then we had a slow pit stop that cost me three or four seconds, but we managed to keep it cool, keep it under control,
and from there on we managed the Hard tyre to the end, going through some slower cars.
“Then I think it was with 12, 13 laps to go, the team asked me to give DRS to Alex to make sure Hadjar didn’t have a chance at passing us.
“It was a bit of a tricky one because you always feel it exposes you, especially in a high-speed track where the DRS has a very big effect around here.
“You always get a bit nervous about it because you cannot put a foot wrong, if you do a mistake, hit a wall or whatever. But in the end, it worked.”
Sainz replicates Singapore exploits
Sainz’s exploits drew instant parallels to his race win in Singapore in 2023, when he opted to hand Norris DRS to stop the pursuing Mercedes duo threatening his lead.
However, the ex-Ferrari racer has expressed that the identical situation that emerged last weekend was tougher to execute as it didn’t emanate from his own initiative.
“When it’s your idea, you’re 100 per cent sure,” he added. “But it’s not the same compared to when it comes from the team.
“You always struggle a bit more to commit to it. It doesn’t come natural.
“But we did the right call in the end. It ensured the eighth and ninth positions for the team and we could bring home this incredible result.”
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