What's going on with Sainz at Williams?

Granted, Williams is not Ferrari, but relative to Alex Albon, a driver destroyed by the benchmark man Max Verstappen, Sainz is getting a pasting like seldom before, with the Thai driver up 7-3 in races and 7-4 in qualifying.

Begging the question: What’s going on with Sainz? Juan Pablo Montoya weighed in on the crisis of form that the Spaniard finds himself enduring in his first season with Williams.

Montoya ventured: "You can tell Carlos is not happy right now. He is not comfortable or happy in that car. They made a step up with Carlos and everything, he’s done that, and I don't know if they're maybe too focused on next year's car.

"This is the other reality. At one point during the year, as a smaller team, you go, 'Let's put more money into the new car,' because then, if you put more money into next year's car, it means the next four or five years of this regulation, you're going to run better," added the Colombian former F1 driver.

Starting the race from a poor P19 place on the grid, Sainz struggled to get off the line for the formation lap at Red Bull Ring on Sunday and ended up in the pit lane with flaming brakes, which meant a DNF for Sainz. Albon's afternoon lasted only 15 of the 71 laps; he retired with a PU issue.

Montoya reflected on Austria: "I think what happened to Carlos, it's a glitch in the system more than anything else, or something had to fail because the rear brakes were dragging. The brakes were completely dragging and it wasn't getting any better. So that was very strange.

I don't know what happened to the other car. They retired that car, too. It seems when it gets hotter, they struggle. Because when it was cool, they were very, very competitive. So it really kind of shows that they're just maybe lacking a little bit of downforce in the car, and that mechanically they probably have a very good, sound car."

Heading to the British Grand Prix weekend, 2005 winner at Silverstone, Montoya shed light on what it takes to master Silverstone: "You need to be able to trust the car. You need to be able to have the commitment to throw the car in all the high-speed corners. There's so much change of direction. The car needs to be so planted that it's not easy. The level of commitment at Silverstone is way up here. But it's really cool as a driver."

Montoya continued: "It was probably top five tracks for me. Spa before they redid it was one of my favourites. I always loved Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur was my favourite track. I gotta say, Suzuka. I enjoyed driving Suzuka, but the hype of everything about Suzuka was disappointing when I drove it.

"Everybody talks about the [Suzuka] Esses and everyone thinks you’re in fifth or sixth gear, but it was third gear in my time. Really? I mean, they're fun! You need the timing, you need everything, but you're not doing Maggots and Becketts. You need like three sets of balls to go through them."

Montoya closed on a positive note for Gabriel Bortoleto, who enjoyed his best showing during the three-day weekend in Spielberg. The Brazilian rookie finally opened his points scoring as a Formula 1 driver with a strong run to P8 at Red Bull Ring.

Montoya said: "I think Gabby did a really good job with what he's been doing, and he's been getting better, and it's a good track for him. He made the most out of it all weekend, and it was great to see.

"It shows that money is being put into the programme, that the people are being put in the right place, and that the whole structure is starting to come together for next year. That it's the right path.

"They know it's going to take time. It's going to take time to win, but they're not going to run as bad as people think they're going to run," ventured the seven-time Grand Prix winner.