"I don’t regret": Carlos Sainz candidly speaks on fears & desires with Williams move

Carlos Sainz has offered a candid reflection on his first season with Williams. He has opened up about what he hoped to achieve, the fears he carried, and why he remains optimistic about the team’s future despite mixed personal results.

The Spaniard, who switched to Grove after four years at Ferrari, admitted that his 2025 campaign has been a mix of promise and frustration but insists he has no second thoughts about the move.

Last summer, Ferrari signed Lewis Hamilton in a blockbuster move, leaving Sainz without a team. Alpine and Audi were in the frame, but both carried significant uncertainties. Eventually, he chose Williams, convinced that the project had a stronger foundation.

He explained his hopes (via RACER):

"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… 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."

That optimism was balanced by caution. Carlos Sainz admitted he feared ending up at a team with no path toward competitiveness, but early signs reassured him.

"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."

On track, Sainz's season so far has been scattered. His average race ranking sits at 11.5, with his best finish being eighth in Saudi Arabia and Imola, and his worst being 18th in Belgium. Add to that two DNFs and one DNS, and it has been anything but a smooth ride. Hungary underlined the difficulty, where, despite driving well, he could only wrestle his Williams into the midfield.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon at the Hungaroring. Source: Getty

Yet, Sainz has been clear about his overall outlook at the halfway mark:

"I don't regret the move, for sure. And I'm actually pretty encouraged for what I've seen. 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."

While teammate Alex Albon has banked the bulk of Williams' points (54 of 70) Carlos Sainz points out that their pace difference has been minimal. He has often been within a tenth of the Thai driver, which he believes proves his competitiveness.

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Carlos Sainz is looking to the future with Williams

Carlos Sainz (55) during the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix. Source: Getty

Carlos Sainz is not just looking at 2025. From the outset, his discussions with team boss James Vowles centered on long-term growth. He has been actively involved in shaping Williams' approach, drawing on experiences at Ferrari and McLaren.

"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're a very solid midfield car. The rest is the TBC of the hopes," he added.

For now, he accepts Albon has been the more consistent points-scorer, but stresses that the gap is not as wide as the championship table shows. Still, he concedes that maximizing weekends has been rare.

"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 maximized 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."

Carlos Sainz finds himself in a peculiar position, frustrated with his own tally but optimistic about Williams' path. With Zandvoort marking the return from the break, Sainz will have the chance to reset, having spent time away with his partner, Rebecca Donaldson.