Carlos Sainz highlights Williams weakness that could be Las Vegas strength

Carlos Sainz has identified one aspect of his Williams at the Brazilian Grand Prix that gives him reason for optimism in Las Vegas.

A difficult race in Interlagos saw Sainz leave Brazil without points following an early clash with Lewis Hamilton on a circuit that didn’t play to the strengths of the FW47.

Carlos Sainz warns Williams after Brazil reveals compromises

Neither Sainz nor teammate Alex Albon were able to add to Williams’ points tally in Interlagos, the former capable of just 13th and the latter 11th.

Contact with Hamilton in the opening exchanges left Sainz compromised as he battled on with a damaged front wing, while a slow stop didn’t help his chances.

It was the third successive race without points for the Grove squad, which has amassed 111 points to sit fifth in the Constructors’ Championship – 29 points up on Racing Bulls, which banked 10 points in Interlagos.

One of the shortest laps on the calendar, Interlagos features a mix of long, high-speed sections and medium-speed corners – especially through the middle of the lap.

It’s there, Sainz argues, that he found his car wanting.

“For me, as a team, it’s just important to understand how we can keep improving the weakness of the long, medium-low speed long corner that always compromises us,” he said.

“Luckily, we have Vegas next, which is completely the opposite.

“Probably the cars that were strong here will be weak in Vegas, and vice versa.

“As a team, we need to get on top of those issues which compromise, and will compromise Qatar.

“Keen to keep working as a team on that.”

The Las Vegas Strip circuit poses an altogether different challenge to Interlagos.

Where the Brazilian venue features an array of medium-speed corners, the Vegas street circuit has comparatively few, with far greater emphasis on braking and slow-speed cornering.

However, Williams’ record at the venue hasn’t been stellar, with a best result of 12th for Albon at the first running of the event.

Last year, Franco Colapinto was the sole Williams driver to reach the flag, doing so in 14th having heavily tagged the wall during qualifying.

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It’s been a strong season for Williams, which ended last season ninth with just 17 points – a tally it had equalled following Round 2 of the current campaign.

Sainz also recorded the squad’s first podium since George Russell was classified in the washed-out 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.

Team boss James Vowles has spoken openly about the rebuilding currently underway within the Dorilton Capital-owned organisation.

The on-track results are just one element of that, with Atlassian coming onboard for F1 2025 in what is the squad’s largest ever sponsorship deal.

That complements the investment that Dorilton has made since acquiring the team in August 2020, which injected £550 million last year alone.

It’s the latest in a string of similar contributions, making for a total of £1.5 billion ($2.02bn) in funding from the squad’s owners since September 2020.

Williams has an estimated value of $2.1 billion according to Sportico.

However, should its march towards the front of the F1 field continue, that is likely to soar.

McLaren was recently valued at $5 billion and Mercedes $6 billion, highlighting the strong room for growth for the Grove-based operation.

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