Williams reveal how Sainz has already broken longstanding F1 trend

Williams boss James Vowles has revealed how new signing Carlos Sainz has already had an impact on the design of its 2025 car.

Sainz first drove for his new team in last year's end-of-season test in Abu Dhabi after being released early by Ferrari, parting gesture following the Scuderia's decision to replace the Spaniard with Lewis Hamilton.

Sainz has also taken part in a Testing of Previous Cars [TPC] outing in Barcelona in old equipment. The new Williams is set to be unveiled on February 14.

Normally, when drivers who are changing teams complete running in the post-season Abu Dhabi test, it is more of a settling-in period, with items such as seating position, steering wheel rack and the pedals corrected to allow the team and its driver to immediately smooth out any creases.

Owing to the short turnaround time between these tests and the following season's car to be built, the new driver often does not have much of a say in its development. Vowles has explained, however, how Sainz has immediately broken this trend.

"First of all, the utmost professionalism came into the team straight away, everything from the outset was clear, concise feedback, and direction so it wasn't just all over the place," Vowles told media, including RacingNews365.

"He was very focused on using data to try decision-making. He made a few changes over the day, and the lap times spoke for themselves.

"We were not trying for lap times, but he was right up there and comfortable in the car from the get-go. 

"The feedback has already been incorporated into this year's car, which normally you can't do, with a few items that have helped us."