Carlos Sainz says Alex Albon is the first thought that comes to his mind when he wakes up in the morning

Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz hilariously claimed that the first thought that comes to his mind when he wakes up in the morning is his new teammate Alex Albon. The Spanish driver completed his high-profile move to the iconic British team at the end of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as he bid farewell to Ferrari after a four-year tenure with them.

There were many teams in the midfield that were vying for the signature of the four-time F1 race winner after he was let go by the Italian team in favor of Lewis Hamilton. But the 30-year-old was convinced by the vision of James Vowles as the latter has made strides since taking over the reins at the Grove-based outfit.

In an exclusive interview with F1.com after the team's first shakedown on February 14, Alex Albon asked Carlos Sainz about his first thought when he wakes up in the morning to which the latter replied:

"I always wake up a little bit stress with the time. I always do a 9-minute postpone [snooze], it gives me 9 minutes to get out of my..."

But Albon was not convinced with the answer and pushed him for his first thought, to which the former McLaren driver responded:

"Alex."

Despite being in the midfield, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon are one of the strongest driver pairing on the grid due to their experience in the sport.

Carlos Sainz reflects on his dynamic with new teammate Alex Albon

Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz was full of praise for his new teammate Alex Albon, as he termed him as "genuine" and "open" whilst giving his feedback.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the Spaniard reflected on his early impressions of having a former Red Bull driver as his teammate and said:

“I've never seen a guy that is so genuine and so open and so willing to make progress with the team and hear me, tell me about what he knows already about the team, about the car, sharing with me ‘What do you think about this? What do you think about that?' and I bounce back and ask him so many other questions.

"So far, we're having an incredible relationship, super open, and I think we both know it. If we want to make this team competitive again and fight for wins again, we just need – between him and me – to push in the same direction. Maybe to sacrifice a bit of our own driver secrets or driver things that you would keep for yourself, to maybe this time share them to see if we can have a faster progress," he added.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon will be teammates for the next two years and would hope to take Williams F1 to the front of the grid in due course.