Carlos Sainz, freshly clad in Williams blue following the end of his Ferrari chapter, hasn’t wasted a second in injecting his new team with the winning mentality he honed in Maranello.
Stepping into a Williams outfit undergoing a significant rebuild and currently navigating the midfield mire, Sainz isn’t sugarcoating the challenge ahead.
Instead, he’s delivering a powerful message of ambition, urging his new colleagues to adopt the relentless pursuit of perfection he witnessed within the hallowed halls of Ferrari: an “obsession” with marginal gains.
Learning from Ferrari’s Relentless Pursuit
After losing his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton, Sainz now embarks on a fresh challenge with Williams, a team that finished a disappointing ninth in the Constructors’ Championship last season.
However, despite Williams’ ongoing transformation phase and its focus on the 2026 regulation changes, Sainz believes success hinges on an unwavering commitment to extracting the smallest performance gains.
“I cannot wait to start working,” Sainz told his new colleagues in a Williams video documenting his first day with the team.
“I can tell you that a Formula 1 team nowadays, at the level that Ferrari is running, there’s an obsession by every single individual right there right now going for the last tenth, last hundredth of a second – and that’s a team that is struggling to beat other teams like McLaren, Mercedes or Red Bull.
“So the level at the front of the field right now is extremely high.”
Sainz emphasized how every single individual at Ferrari was committed to finding microscopic gains, an approach he believes Williams must mirror.
“That 1200 people that work in Ferrari – I don’t know exactly a number in Williams – you can tell they have the passion for winning.
“But they are obsessed with the tenth of a second, obsessed with a hundredth of a second, obsessed with the minimal detail of every single piece of the car.”
The Power of Small Margins
Despite Williams’ struggles, Sainz remains confident in the team’s potential, reinforcing the idea that consistent marginal improvements can lead to major gains on the track.
“So from here, I want to motivate you all, you know, every single individual here, that that last tenth will make the difference,” the impassioned Spaniard said.
Encouraging the team to embrace his philosophy, Sainz reminded them that the front-running teams all share this mindset – an obsession with refining every component to the highest possible standard.
“If you add up all these milliseconds, trust me, it will pay off on track – and I have no doubts that you guys are all as capable as anyone at the front of the field,” Sainz continued.
“So together, let’s go be obsessed with that hundredth, because I’m sure it’s going to make the difference.”
While Williams’ immediate prospects may be uncertain, Sainz’s passion and experience could prove instrumental in driving the team forward.
If his words ignite the same obsession within Williams as he saw at Ferrari, the team may well be on its way to closing the gap to the front of the grid.
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