Carlos Sainz has again highlighted Williams’ stalled progress, this time suggesting the team’s wind tunnel may not be accurately reflecting developments made at the factory.

The Spaniard, who has repeatedly voiced concern about the team’s lack of competitiveness amid growing speculation about his future, said a new front wing introduced at Silverstone had failed to produce the expected gains.

“We’re testing things, we’re trying to make this front wing work, but it’s clear that something isn’t working on the team – in the wind tunnel,” Sainz told DAZN.

“We’re not finding any improvements that bring us closer to Racing Bulls, who are seven or eight tenths of a second ahead. So we’re very, very far off, and we need to see how we can improve.”

As well as indicating issues with the wind tunnel, Sainz also suggested Williams simply does not understand how to deal with the all-new F1 regulations.

“What’s changed is the regulations, and the way we find aerodynamic points is different from last year,” he said.

“It’s clear we don’t fully understand these aerodynamics and these regulations because we’re clearly not improving at the same pace as the others.

“We also started with a worse base (car), as was the case at the beginning of the season. So we need to start thinking, go back to the factory, and see what we’re doing that isn’t improving the situation.”

Williams F1