Carlos Sainz has revealed he was pleasantly taken aback when he first drove his new car for the 2025 season.
After being passed over by leading outfits Mercedes and Red Bull following Ferrari's decision to sign Lewis Hamilton, the 30-year-old Spaniard faced a choice between midfield squads Alpine and Williams for his next move.
Alpine adviser Flavio Briatore has called Sainz's decision a "mistake," yet the four-time grand prix winner finished the lone Bahrain pre-season test atop the combined timesheets.
"You can't say that the pre-season test times directly reflect the power balance for the 2025 season," former F1 driver Shinji Nakano told Japanese outlet as-web.jp, noting Sainz's apparent low-fuel qualifying run.
"However, if the car platform itself is poor, you cannot get a good time like that even if you attack with less fuel, so I think the fact that Williams was able to record the fastest time is proof of the evolution from last year's car," he added.
Sainz himself admitted he had been preparing for a more challenging year ahead.
"I saw that it was a better car and a better team than I expected," he told Spanish broadcaster DAZN.
"We were fast and I was able to adapt quickly."
Just weeks ago, team principal James Vowles had suggested that even scoring points regularly would be a struggle for Williams in 2025, but his outlook has since brightened.
"Positions are difficult to predict," he said. "But the important thing is that we should have the car regularly in the points.
"But we are not looking for results in particular weekends this year. We need to apply development and processes that bear fruit in the long term. That's how you fight for world championships."
Sainz, 30, shares a similar sense of optimism.
"We are in a process of change that generates good feelings," he said. "Sponsors are arriving, we are signing engineers and people who want to join the project. This shows that Williams is serious and that we have a clear view about how to return to the top."
