Carlos Sainz timeline ‘delayed’ as final Williams decision looms
Carlos Sainz is in his second full season with Williams in 2026
Carlos Sainz has admitted that his timeline for returning to winning ways in F1 has been “delayed” as a result of Williams’ disappointing F1 2026 season.
And he has confirmed that he will “start to take a decision” on his future during the upcoming summer break.
Carlos Sainz to make decision on Williams future over summer break
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Sainz enjoyed an impressive first season with Williams in 2025, claiming two podium finishes as the team claimed fifth place in the constructors’ standings.
The Grove-based outfit had targeted a major step forward in competitiveness under the new rules for F1 2026, but has struggled to match its expectations.
Williams sits eighth in the championship having scored just 11 points prior to today’s Hungarian Grand Prix, with Sainz limited to three ninth-place finishes so far this season.
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Williams’ disappointing season has led to suggestions that the former Ferrari driver could look elsewhere for the F1 2027 campaign.
PlanetF1.com has learned that remaining with Williams is Sainz’s most likely option for next season, with the prospect of him replacing Nico Hulkenberg at the Audi F1 team now believed to be firmly off the table.
Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets in Budapest, Sainz admitted that his hopes of returning to winning ways in Formula 1 have been delayed as a result of Williams’ struggles.
He said: “I think there’s no secret that my expectations – or, let’s say, my timeline for how long it would take me to win a race again and for Williams to be the place to do that – have been delayed by a year or two.
“It depends on how quickly we manage to bounce back from this situation.
“Obviously, I had in my mind a timeframe that I was willing to accept in order to help this team get back into a winning position and how long I was willing to wait to be fighting for wins again.
“Clearly that timeline, unfortunately for all of us because obviously the team is also affected by it, is going to be longer than we expected and that path is going to be longer than expected.
“Having said that, I see what the team is investing in the future. I still see the vision of the team being pretty clear.
“I see how much is going on behind the scenes when you leave the current car performance aside and this still gives me confidence and motivation that we’re going in the right direction.
“It’s just that this year’s car, for whatever reason – or reasons – has been very underperforming and has fallen very short of our expectations for many different reasons that I’m not going to talk about again here today.
“Clearly, my timings have changed. I need to readapt my thinking into portraying myself now in three to four years’ time and take a decision.
“But I’m still confident in the path and the project that we are in.”
Sainz revealed at last month’s Austrian Grand Prix that he had instructed his management to keep him out of transfer-related matters until the summer break as he focused on getting Williams back on track.
He went on to add that he would make a final decision on his future during the summer break.
Asked directly when he will make a decision, he added: “I honestly don’t know.
“I cannot give you a date but I imagine, as I always said, that I was going to wait until the summer to sit down with my team and think about this and discuss with them, with James and everyone, the future of the team and my future in it.
“I expect that during the summer we will start to take a decision and start to see a bit more of the situation.
“But the exact timing, I don’t know.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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