Does Carlos Sainz regret leaving McLaren for Ferrari?

Walking away from McLaren to join Ferrari, Carlos Sainz believes he’d be fighting for world championships had he not decided to join the Scuderia.

Sainz is in his 11th year in Formula 1, and has raced for half of the grid after starting at Toro Rosso, before moving to Renault, McLaren, Ferrari and more recently Williams.

Carlos Sainz: If I had stayed…

None of those moves, though, has put him in a position to win a World title. In fact, today he suggests one may have even cost him a shot at a maiden Drivers’ title.

Sainz spent two seasons racing for McLaren alongside Lando Norris, and claimed a podium result in both seasons on his way to sixth place in the Drivers’ standings.

And then Ferrari came calling.

Although Ferrari came up short in 2020, a season in which the team dropped off the podium for the first time since 2014, whereas McLaren was third, the Spaniard insisted it was an opportunity that he had to take.

“With all my respect and admiration for McLaren, which is the second-best team in history, when Ferrari knocks on the door, plus one that won in 2019, there is no doubt,” he told AS at the time.

However, hindsight is a brutal thing.

Ferrari is still seeking its first Drivers’ title since 2007 and its first Constructors’ title since 2008, while McLaren is the reigning teams’ champion and is expected to achieve the double this season.

The only outcome to be decided is whether it be Sainz’s former McLaren teammate Lando Norris who wins the Drivers’ title, or Oscar Piastri.

Sainz reckons if he was still at McLaren, he’d be in the fight.

“Those two strong years at McLaren were perhaps the best of my career, where I got the most out of the car I had,” he told DAZN. “If I had stayed, we would now be fighting for a World Championship.

“It was the first place in Formula 1 where I really felt loved, supported and embraced by everyone. It boosted my confidence and allowed me to grow as a driver.”

The 31-year-old, though, has no regrets.

“I think any driver in my position would get a call from Ferrari during the McLaren era, which isn’t the current era, and you have to go to Ferrari. You can’t say no,” he said.

“I wanted to prove to myself and to everyone that I am worth being there, to fight for podiums and victories.”

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Sainz’s Formula 1 journey has taken him to Grove where he races for Williams having signed a multi-year contract with the Grove squad after he was dropped by Ferrari to make room for Lewis Hamilton.

But while he may have moved from the top half of the grid to the bottom half, Sainz believes his Williams chapter could be the one that defines his Formula 1 career.

Although F1 2025 has been a difficult season as he has struggled to adapt to the FW47, Formula 1 will undergo a huge reset next year with all-new cars and engines on the grid.

Sainz is dreaming of podiums, and perhaps even a victory.

“I’m doing very well at Williams and I think it’s a very good place for my future.” he said. “If we manage to take Williams back up and achieve a podium or a victory one day, it would be the thing I could be most excited about, it’s my life project.”

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