Sainz on top again, Hamilton low on mileage: Key figures from pre-season testing

13 comments on “Sainz on top again, Hamilton low on mileage: Key figures from pre-season testing”

1. 

   Chintan
   28th February 2025, 17:59

   @keith – there’s a slight typo in the last time sheet… You’ve mentioned “Ferrari” as the engine supplier for Carlos’ Williams.

   Thank you for the insightful article.
   :)
   1. 

      Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
      28th February 2025, 18:21

      So that’s what Carlos had under his hat.
   2. 

      stefano (@alfa145)
      1st March 2025, 2:16

      @keithcollantine
   3. 

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      1st March 2025, 7:37

      Thanks for the heads-up!
2. 

   The Dolphins
   28th February 2025, 19:04

   I’m quite looking forward to this season, naturally this will be the closest battle for the championships in this regulation era. That alone makes me wish the 2026 regs would not come into play for a few more years. The fans deserve to see the battles which come from convergence; not least because it’s natural, unlike the artificial rules the commission is pushing.
   1. 

      Riccard
      1st March 2025, 16:31

      It might be the closest, but 2024 was so unusually competitive that the most likely outcome is reversion to the mean

      I.e. we will probably find fewer drivers win 2 races each this year, and we will probably find not so many teams are close at the front… simply because last year was an outlier.
3. 

   Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
   1st March 2025, 7:42

   Congratulations to Williams! The rank and file at Williams must have gone into Testing wondering why James was so demanding, why this and that had to change, and why he employed Carlos, and then they leave Testing with the fastest lap time. This is a huge moral boost.
   1. 

      Riccard
      1st March 2025, 16:33

      Why would anyone question the hiring of Sainz?
      1. 

         Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
         2nd March 2025, 3:39

         I’m guessing Williams have to pay a lot to employ Carlos, and that he is a demanding driver. Carlos knows what you need in a car which gives it a chance of winning races, and he would have realised what was missing or under-performing in the Williams car. So Williams have to spend time and money listening to Carlos, trying to understand his complaint, then trying to fix it so their car becomes “winning pedigree”. I have seen many good drivers go to lesser teams and lose their ambition. Williams could easily have gotten a cheaper driver, and they could have also fallen into the trap of not listening to Carlos because of apathy. Instead Williams are committing money to trying to bring their car up to the standard Carlos wants.
   2. 

      Mark (@blueruck)
      2nd March 2025, 1:53

      Amazing start for Williams – I imagine Albon is very closely watching the traces to understand how Carlos beat him

      The season is looking fantastic
4. 

   Esploratore (@esploratore1)
   2nd March 2025, 3:35

   We all know how little testing and practice times matter, but seeing sainz on top makes me really wonder if he will still have a top car after all; can’t say anything until q1 at the very least, but IF williams turned out to be a top car, it’d be nice, since sainz didn’t deserve to end up in a midfield\bottom car.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      2nd March 2025, 3:35

      More than nice, justice is the word I meant.
   2. 

      El Pollo Loco
      2nd March 2025, 11:56

      It’d easily be the best story of the season. McLaren are miles ahead of anyone, but if we suspended disbelief and imagined Sainz won the WDC it’d likely be the most legendary F1 story ever. Alas, I think the most we can hope for is that he finishes 9th (maybe 8th due to Lawson and if the RBR is as weak as it appears), but that wouldn’t be half bad.

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