Carlos Sainz: I'm not particularly optimistic.

      Carlos Sainz, at a meeting with the Spanish press today, urged his compatriots not to delude themselves and not to expect too much from Williams this weekend.  

      "I thought we would be more competitive in Monaco than we actually were," Carlos said, meaning that calculations don't always reflect the real picture. – We have all the information, we have telemetry data, we see what is happening with the car, and judging by this data, it may seem that we can claim better results on certain routes compared to other stages.

      But it is clear that after 2021, the Williams drivers in Spain did not manage to qualify for the second part of qualifying, i.e. the team always had difficulties here. This is a typical track with short straights, lots of long turns, where high downforce is required, and the weaknesses of our car always show up here.

      And although this year's FW47 is much more efficient than last year's car, and we have made a significant step forward, nevertheless, I am not particularly optimistic. However, my attitude cannot be called pessimistic either."

      And here's what the Spanish Williams driver said about the possible impact of the new FIA directive on the rigidity of the front wings on the balance of power: "I think teams can lose or gain no more than one tenth, depending on how the new rule affects them. But I am quite sure that we will not see any differences in the results, which would suddenly amount to three or five tenths.

      We face the same tasks, our goals do not change. If a decision is made, then Williams moves in that direction, clearly understanding what the team's goals are. I think this shows that the team has good leaders, because in such a rapidly changing world of Formula 1, it is very difficult to remain committed to a certain ideology or strategy.…

      If I had said last year that we would be ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes drivers in qualifying on some tracks in 2025, you would have thought I was crazy. But the point is, that's exactly what we're doing – it's incredibly cool!

      The decision to roll back the modernization of the FW47 chassis was difficult, but the right one. But it only confirms that we have made a real leap forward, and I believe in our project.… I'm showing great speed, and after a bad weekend in China, I'm now comfortable driving on most tracks.

      But the results leave a lot to be desired for one reason or another, but I'm not too worried about it as long as I'm able to show high speeds. I know that the results will come, it's only a matter of time.  I've had a lot of bad luck on Sundays because tactical decisions weren't made entirely in my favor, but that's also part of our sport."