Aston Martin is 'in a different league' as Sainz delivers damning verdict

Williams had another weekend to forget at the Dutch Grand Prix, which also ended with contact between the team's two drivers. Meanwhile, Aston Martin's latest changes helped Fernando Alonso score points on an alternative strategy.

After the race, Sainz was clear in his verdict. He told GPblog, among others: "We are pretty much where we expected, which is towards the back. We are only quicker than Cadillac at the moment. You saw the Astons, in race pace, they are a different league right now. We couldn’t fight them. We couldn’t fight anyone really.

“At the end of the race, Alex and I are just having fun, and unfortunately, I did this mistake where I was caught off-guard with a front lock into Turn 1 on the bump. But honestly, it’s not like we were fighting for much," he said about the incident.

The Spaniard continued: "If you look at the last five races, this is where we’ve been for the last five races, so it is where we are. We’ve had a very tough weekend on my side with some inconsistency of the parts, which haven’t allowed me to set up the car correctly for the race.

Williams currently sits ninth in the standings with 11 points scored so far this year. The Grove-based team has not finished in the top ten since the Monaco Grand Prix.