Carlos Sainz has a plan to fix Formula 1's testing rules that make him a "bit upset", after completing all the running he'll do before his first race for Williams.
Teams have three days of collective testing to split between their race drivers, meaning Sainz has only had a day and a half of running to get up to speed with the FW47 in Bahrain - plus a few laps at the Silverstone shakedown earlier this month.
Teams are restricted to running their current cars in pre-season testing and two filming days, restricted to 200km of running per day - which is around 37 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit for reference.
Sainz was recently appointed a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association but made it clear he's voicing a personal grievance rather than starting his political agenda.
"It feels weird that now I need to go racing after a day and a half [of testing]," Sainz said when asked how his adaptation to Williams was going.
"It feels not enough and very little. Ridiculously little, the amount of time we get in our cars before going to a race."
Sainz was speaking in the FIA drivers' press conference alongside four of the 2025 rookies - drivers he has plenty of sympathy for. Even if some of them, such as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, have done extensive Testing of Previous Cars [TPC], Sainz doesn't believe this is a substitute.
"I'm wishing them all the best, understanding their frustration with testing because even though I'm no rookie, that day and a half testing is frustrating for me too, but I cannot imagine for a rookie," Sainz said.
"I understand how difficult that makes things and how tricky the start of the season will be for some of these guys. If you could get a TPC car that is relevant and still helps a lot, but experience is experience and you only gain that on track with a real car you're going to drive that year in F1."
Sainz proposes a solution: to keep the collective test as it is but to allow teams more private test days in exchange for fewer simulator days. There's currently no limit on the number of simulator days teams can do as long as they remain within F1's $140.4million budget cap.
"I'm a bit upset with this rule, we spend days and days in the simulator. It's just a thought that I have that they could just put into the budget cap whether you want to run a simulator or do testing, and you choose where to spend your budget into that," Sainz explained.
"At the same time, you might do it [have limited real-world testing] for environmental [reasons] but you have drivers flying private to the UK and out of Monaco every single day to go to a simulator.
"I don't understand that side of F1, that rule, when they decided to say ‘ban testing and let's develop 20 million simulators and spend the money on 20 million simulators to not go testing'.
"This is a personal thing, this is not GPDA or anything but I don't understand where it comes from.
"You could say let's put 10-12 days of testing limit and each team uses them as they wish in which part of the season."It's OK to have a collective one because it's cool for the media, for us to see each other, it's competitive."
Sainz wouldn't stop there with his testing overhaul and called for some of the testing mystique to be lifted.
"I also think every team should declare the fuel they're at to make it interesting for the TV, if not why do you look at the TV?," Sainz said.
"You should write it down and put your engine mode you're on.
"I have many ideas that could make the sport more understandable for you guys, the fans and make more sense also for some drivers because it's too much simulator and not enough driving for me."
Unfortunately, the media's time with Sainz concluded before the new GPDA director could share any more of his vision for a different F1.
