Carlos Sainz acknowledged that his plan to return to winning in Formula 1 was “postponed” by one or two years due to Williams’ performance drop in 2026.
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The team was counting on this year’s regulation change to leave behind the midfield battle and get closer to the front positions. However, problems at the start of the season made Williams spend much of the championship trying to recover performance, falling below the level shown in 2025.
“I think it’s no secret that my expectations, or rather, my timeline to win a race again and for Williams to be the place where that would happen, was postponed by one or two years. It depends on how quickly we can get out of this situation,” he said.
“I had in mind a deadline I was willing to accept to help this team return to a winning position and how long I was willing to wait to compete for wins again. Clearly, this timeline, unfortunately for all of us, because the team is also affected by this, will be longer than we expected, and this path will be longer than anticipated,” he added.
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Sainz has not yet confirmed if he will continue with Williams in 2027. The Spaniard intends to use the summer break to analyze his options before making a decision about his future. But despite the frustration with the current car’s performance, he said he still believes in the team’s project.
“I see what the team is investing in the future. I still see that the team’s vision is quite clear. I can see how much is happening behind the scenes when we put aside the current car’s performance, and that still gives me confidence and motivation that we are heading in the right direction,” he said.
“It’s just that this year’s car, for one reason or several reasons, performed well below expectations and fell far short of our expectations for various reasons that I won’t talk about again here today. Clearly, my deadlines have changed. I need to adapt my thinking again to project myself three or four years ahead and make a decision, but I remain confident in the path and the project we are on,” he concluded.
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