(Motorsport-Total.com) – According to Carlos Sainz, employees in a Formula 1 factory really have to take their work in Grand Prix sport to heart. This perspective is described by the Williams driver on the official YouTube channel of the traditional racing team in the podcast format “Team Torque”.
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With his approach, Sainz responds to his teammate Alexander Albon. In the podcast, Albon talks, among other things, about how difficult moments have shaped him and ultimately made him a Grand Prix driver.
“A Formula 1 team consists of many individuals who are absolutely excellent at what they do,” said Sainz. “That’s why they are in a Formula 1 team. And to become so good at what they do, they have to go through similar things as Alex just described.”
“Formula 1 teams consist of people who bring a certain resilience and mental strength. What I like to do, and I recently emphasized this in the factory as well, is to say: ‘Take this personally! If we are not where we want to be right now, or if we are going through difficult times, then take it personally!'”
The team is indeed experiencing such difficult times in the 2026 season. Although they started the new generation of Formula 1 with high expectations, so far the team from Grove can at best be placed in the lower midfield.
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Sainz emphasizes that it is important to convince yourself that you will overcome these difficult times. “Because once you have done that,” he explains, “your self-confidence grows enormously.”
“Suddenly it is multiplied tenfold! So if you really dig deep and go through this difficult moment, you know that afterwards you will be a ten times better version of yourself.”
“I always try to motivate myself by telling myself that after the difficult times paradise awaits me; I am on a completely new level. [For that you have to] keep pushing through the difficult times, take responsibility and somehow let it get to you.”
Sainz and Albon will also be behind the wheel for Williams in 2027. The B-variant of the FW48, which will start in Baku, is to serve as the basis for next year’s single-seater.