Villeneuve accuses Ferrari of slowing down post Sainz's exit

Having joined Williams this season following Ferrari's decision to replace him with Lewis Hamilton, Sainz has already made his mark in the Grove-based outfit giving the team its first full race podium in Azerbaijan, since Lance Stroll's P3 at the same Grand Prix. George Russell's 2021 Spa-Francorchamps podium came after the race had been run following three laps behind the safety car, with the race officials determining the weather conditions were too dire to allow the Belgian Grand Prix to go ahead.

Villeneuve believes that, although the Spaniard's adaptation to Williams has been a slow brewing process, it has now paid dividends for the outfit led by James Vowles.

“If you look at his career, when he’s joined a new team, it has taken him a while, half a season maybe, to get up to speed,” Villeneuve said. “He works at it.

The 1997 world champion argues that Sainz's contribution to the teams he's been in has also made his teammates faster as well, and despite beng paired with tier 1 drivers such as Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, the Spaniard has been able to hold his own.

“And at some point, he’s often had a teammate that maybe was just a few hundredths quicker. But that teammate was quicker also thanks to the work that Sainz was doing," he added.

Villeneuve then added that the team's he's departed have suffered from his exit, with the Canadian pointing the finger at Ferrari's 2025 campaign.

Dismissing suggestions that Williams have miraculously turned a corner in Azerbaijan, he stated Sainz had always been there, but something always derailed his results. However, the Spaniard's character, Villeneuve thinks has helped Williams cement its upward trend and disregards any potential chance of the driver departing the British team any time soon.

“Sainz has to be quite happy with what’s going on at Williams,” he said. “Because now he’s perceived as the team builder, as a great addition and he’s loved there. So if you’re going to jump ship you have to think twice.”

Williams are currently sitting pretty at 101 points and they hold a 29-points lead over Racing Bulls, with Aston Martin following the Faenza-based outfit 39 points adrift off the team from Grove.

Following his Azerbaijan Grand Prix podium, Sainz stated Williams was a team on the rise, and that the capitalisation on their qualifying result during the race made his P3 finish much sweeter than his first ever F1 podium. Team Principal James Vowles complimented his driver and warned the paddock that there was much more to come from the Spanish driver.

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