Carlos Sainz close to ‘disobeying’ Williams with ‘never in the plan’ strategy call

Carlos Sainz was on the verge of defying Williams’ strategy call at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, stating that pitting early was “never in the plan.”

The Spaniard was summoned to the pits on lap 11, a decision that severely hampered his prospects of securing a strong points finish.

Sainz Expresses Frustration Over Williams' Imola Strategy

Following a similar experience in Miami, Sainz's patience with Williams' strategic decisions wore thin at Imola. He started the race in sixth but ultimately finished in eighth.

During the race, Sainz voiced his discontent over team radio, highlighting that his teammate Alex Albon's strategy appeared to be the correct one. Post-race, the former Ferrari driver revealed that the early pit stop was entirely unexpected.

“To be perfectly honest, pitting so early was never part of the plan,” Sainz told the media, including PlanetF1.com. “There was no prior indication that we were going to pit.

“So when the call came to pit, I was very close to not following the order and disobeying. However, I am a team player, and the team often has more information than I do, so I complied, hoping there was a reason I couldn't see.

“While everyone was degrading tires at that time, tires usually go through a phase where they feel terrible before recovering. We know how crucial track position is here, which is what we sacrificed against Charles Leclerc and the other one-stoppers who stayed out.

“It was definitely a surprise.

“I don’t think we can be satisfied with P8. Although at one point I was P15 and didn't think we'd score points, I managed a good comeback. However, we simply didn't execute a good Sunday, for the second consecutive time.

“I believe we let a lot of points slip away on Sunday, having been in a very strong position after the initial laps, even faster than the Aston Martins and Mercedes ahead. Perhaps we overreacted to Leclerc pitting, but we clearly pitted very early on my side of the garage. From then on, we were on an offset strategy that just didn't work for us.”

Sainz further discussed his relationship with the team, noting that he has not yet established the same level of rapport as with his previous employers and that Williams needs to improve this year.

“I’m frustrated because this isn’t the first time, and it’s costing us a lot of points on Sundays. But I’ve always told the team that this is a year for making mistakes and learning from them. However, we need to make progress, as we’re losing too many points for my liking.

“Clearly, we need to enhance our communication and mutual understanding on Sundays, as this has always been a strength of mine that I need to develop with the team.

“With this team, it's something that still needs to be built and ingrained to ensure we execute Sundays better. It’s very frustrating to come away with only P8, considering the pace I showed this weekend and the speed in the race, especially when you see Alex finishing in the top five with a standard strategy. This frustration is amplified because it's happening consecutively.

“Williams isn’t currently competing for World Championships, but I believe they have the potential to achieve race wins and championships in the future.

“It’s a very young team with a young project, and this year we've found ourselves in a strong position against championship contenders like Mercedes and Ferrari.

“We were faster than them in Miami and faster today, but we didn’t beat them in Miami, and I didn’t beat them today. We need to learn how to beat them.”