Carlos Sainz comes clean on his F1 title hopes with Williams

Carlos Sainz has claimed that he can win a F1 world championship at Williams in the future, given that he has the right personnel around him to help develop a competitive car. The Spaniard opted to join the project at Grove after he wasn't offered a new contract at Ferrari after 2024.

Sainz was unfortunate to lose his Ferrari seat at the end of the 2024 season. The driver would most likely still have been racing in the scarlet red overalls if it wasn't for Lewis Hamilton.

The 31-year-old did not have any concrete offers from a front-running team in 2025, but he still opted to join Williams over other teams in the midfield. Since joining, Sainz has maintained that the his and the team's ultimate goal is to start competing for race wins and titles in the near future.

Most recently, Sainz was again asked during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend if he believes that he can win a world title at Williams. The driver reiterated his previous thoughts, saying:

"Yes. If there's one thing I've taken over from Ferrari and my other experiences, it is that I know that with the right people around me I can develop a competitive car and team." [via PA Media]

William F1 team principal James Vowles has also claimed that his long-term vision for the British team is for them to return back to winning races and compete for championships. Carlos Sainz has also previously claimed that Vowles' ambition was one of the biggest reasons why he bought into the Williams project.

While the drivers and the boss had previously claimed that they expected to see real progress in 2026 under the new regulations, the team has already improved drastically in 2025.

After finishing 9th in 2024, Williams are currently 5th in the 2025 Constructors' standings, having leapfrogged the likes of Aston Martin and Alpine already.

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Carlos Sainz lashes out at Liam Lawson after the pair's incident at the Dutch GP

Carlos Sainz driving his Williams during the Dutch Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Carlos Sainz lashed out at Liam Lawson after the pair's incident at the Dutch GP, claiming that it is extremely difficult to hold clear side-by-side racing with the Kiwi driver. The two drivers made contact going into turn 1 during the race, and the stewards deemed that Sainz was at fault.

Speaking about the incident after the race, Sainz blamed Lawson for the moment and brought up his history of similar incidents.

"How many examples we’ve seen in Turn 1 in some order of two cars racing side by side without contact? It’s a corner that allows two cars to race each other without really having to have any unnecessary contact," said Sainz. [via PlanetF1]

"But with Liam, it always seems to be very difficult to make that happen. He always seems to prefer to have a bit of contact and risk a DNF or a puncture like we did, than to actually accept having two cars side by side," he added.

The 10-second penalty for Sainz left many fans and experts scratching their heads, as the moment seemed to be more of a racing incident. Sainz also expressed his disagreement with the penalty, claiming that the call was "unacceptable" and "inexplicable".