Motor racing-Williams' Sainz yet to influence 2025 car as team charts course back up the grid

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Former Ferrari driver and four-time Formula One race winner Carlos Sainz's feedback on the Williams team's 2025 racing car has been "interesting" but is yet to influence the former champions' 2025 contender, its head of vehicle performance said on Friday.

Williams finished ninth in the constructors' championship in 2024 but the British-based team hopes to continue moving up the pecking order, after showing improved performance in pre-season testing and during last week's Australian Grand Prix, where driver Alex Albon finished fifth, marking his best result since leaving front-runner Red Bull.

Team principal James Vowles signed Sainz last year in what was seen as a coup for the team, which in recent years has attracted fresh investment and overhauled its approach to designing and developing its racing cars.

"What was nice to hear was the things we had identified as weaknesses in last year's car, he was able to confirm," said Dave Robson, head of vehicle performance. "So that was good, because we had already put in months of effort to improve those."

"I think his feedback is, his view of how the car can be made to handle was interesting, but hasn't influenced our car yet," he added, referring to Sainz's time spent in the car in pre-season testing in Abu Dhabi in February.

The Spanish driver brought the driver market to a standstill last year, after seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton's shock announcement that he would be moving to Ferrari at the beginning of the season and taking Sainz's seat, leaving him exploring a number of options to try and secure a drive in the most competitive car possible.

"I think when he got in this car, at the beginning of this year, he was fairly happy that we'd made some improvements," Robson said.

"Whether we're at the level of Ferrari yet, probably on pure-one lap pace, not," he added. "But we did beat them (in Australia), and on one-lap it turned out."

(Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Kate Mayberry)