Carlos Sainz has reflected on his decision to move to Williams at the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season, confirming that he has no regrets.
The Spanish driver found himself searching for a new seat for 2025 after Ferrari signed seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in his place. After a four-year stint with the Maranello outfit, Sainz took his time to decide which team would be the best fit for him in the long term, and it was Williams chief James Vowles who was successful in convincing the 30-year-old that the Grove outfit was the option to choose.
Since joining Williams, Sainz has struggled to adjust, with a season-best of eighth at both the Saudi Arabian and Emilia-Romagna Grands Prix.
“My hopes were that Williams would be a solid midfield car in ’25 that allowed me to fight for points and not be at the back end of the grid,” Sainz explained to RACER.
“Just somewhere around the top 10 that I could still have fun playing around for points – which might sound stupid, but it’s still better and it’s a lot more something to go for than fighting for P16, P17, where 24 races like that can get frustrating for a driver.
“And then the other hopes were still TBC, which is ’26, ’27, ’28. Where can Williams get to? And my feeling and my hope is that we can be championship contenders in the late part of the years that I just mentioned.
“Part of it we know and it’s been more than achieved, which is we are a very solid midfield car. The rest is the TBC of the hopes.
Alexander Albon, Williams, Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
“The fears were being at the back end of the grid and finding a team that doesn’t have the potential to actually be a championship contender. But I must say that that part is also covered. I see good potential and a very strong project to actually be competitive in the future.”
Although he currently sits 16th in the drivers’ standings, Sainz has no regrets about his decision to sign with Williams.
“I don’t regret the move, for sure. And I’m actually pretty encouraged for what I’ve seen,” he added.
“2025 has exceeded my expectations in terms of car performance and what the team is capable of doing. So, I’m very comfortable and calm with the decision. I’m just frustrated that the results haven’t been better because the feeling is saying the opposite, but the results for one reason or another are not coming.
“I like seeing the potential because I see that I also have it. I think I would be more worried if I was three or four tenths off Alex every weekend and not being able to match his pace, and see him getting the P6s, the P7s, the P5s, getting all the points and me just struggling for pace in the back.
“But the fact that I am sometimes quicker, sometimes in the same tenth, sometimes one tenth slower than Alex every weekend, I know I can get the same results – sometimes better, sometimes a bit worse, but nowhere near the difference in points and results that we’re getting these 12 races, for example.
“It’s a bit of a weird feeling because I feel competitive. I feel fast. I feel like when I put a lap together in the Williams, I still have a lot of lap time and potential. But I think we’ve maximised the weekend in one or two occasions out of 12 – which in my ratio of a year in F1, that’s very little in my experience.”
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