Sainz reflects on ‘tough day’ after SQ2 exit in China as he explains key Williams issue he’s ‘struggling’ with

Carlos Sainz was left to rue a “tough day” after exiting Sprint Qualifying in P13 at the Chinese Grand Prix, with the Williams driver admitting that he is still trying to get to grips with the balance of his new car.

After just one practice session to get acquainted with the newly resurfaced Shanghai International Circuit earlier in the day, Sainz initially found himself at risk of elimination during the first segment of Sprint Qualifying.

While the Spaniard improved on his second effort – putting him through to SQ2 – he again found himself in the danger zone and this time could not better his lap, meaning that he will line up in 13th place for Saturday’s Sprint after a challenging Friday at the wheel of the FW47.

“It’s been a tough day up until now,” Sainz reflected after Sprint Qualifying. “We’re struggling with some balance problems and especially coming down to SQ2, not knowing exactly where to find the lap time and a bit of overdriving and a bit of a problem with the seat.

“So yeah, a bit too many issues which meant we couldn’t go through, but we’ll try and learn from it so we can apply tomorrow for the day that counts in Quali.”

‘It’s been a tough day’ – Sainz reflects on balance problems in Sprint Qualifying

Quizzed on how he had found the day’s sole practice session before heading into Sprint Qualifying, Sainz answered: “Not easy. It’s been a difficult weekend up until now with trying to find the balance of the car. It feels quite different here with the wind and, yeah, still as I said struggling to find the lap time when it comes to Qualifying.”

And in terms of the most challenging aspect that Sainz can focus on entering into Saturday – which will feature the Sprint followed by Qualifying for the main Grand Prix later on – the 30-year-old said: “Just getting the laps in.

HIGHLIGHTS: Hamilton bags surprise Sprint Qualifying pole ahead of Verstappen

“I feel I am still short of mileage with learning the car and how to drive it, especially when it comes to Qualifying, so just getting the mileage up and understanding where to go faster.”

On the other side of the Williams garage, Alex Albon progressed through to SQ3 and ended Sprint Qualifying in ninth place. Asked to summarise his session, the Thai driver responded: “Not bad, pretty happy. I think we have a bit of work to do with the car.

“I think this track isn’t quite suiting us at the minute. We need to make some changes – obviously we can’t for the Sprint race – but afterwards just to tie up the balance, high speed, low speed a bit better.

Albon: Williams ‘have a bit of work to do’ ahead of Chinese GP

“Tyres are not that easy to know what to do with them, I think the tyres are very sensitive, and so long corners – like they are in China – tend to make [those] tyres work a bit harder and it’s hard to get them into a good place. We’ll do some work overnight and try and get back stronger tomorrow.”

Pushed on whether he had felt more confident with the car after putting more laps in, Albon commented: “Not really. I’ve been feeling confident with the car full stop, [but] just struggling to get the tyres to do what I want them to do and hold on in the right way. It feels like you have to manage them and overmanage them in many ways – it’s not that comfortable.”

Now attentions turn to Saturday’s Sprint, an event that Albon believes may feature a lively ending.

“I think graining’s going to be a big talking point, the fronts especially, which is hard in low fuel as well but in the high fuel it gets out of control, so I think it’s going to be a very managed race – unfortunately it might look a bit boring in the first few laps and then you’ll see a bit of a race towards the end,” the 28-year-old said.