Carlos Sainz claims hidden reason behind Williams commitment

Carlos Sainz ended speculation over his future by signing a new deal with Williams. Not all of his reasons for re-committing to the team are in the public eye.

Indeed, Sainz is seeing “new projects” and “new people joining” behind the scenes at Williams, representing progress which makes him “optimistic” that this alliance can come good.

Carlos Sainz seeing behind-the-scenes Williams progress

Williams has not yet hit the performance level expected in F1 2026. After two 2025 podiums for Sainz in his first season with the team, Williams has fallen back through the pack under the new regulations, rather than taken another step.

After the Dutch Grand Prix, Sainz claimed that Williams is only faster than newcomers Cadillac right now.

Yet despite swirling speculation over his future with Williams, Sainz agreed a new multi-year contract before the event, affirming his continued commitment to the Williams project.

Sainz, speaking with Autosport, explained reasons, which the media and public cannot see, behind his faith in Williams.

Asked if he has set a deadline for achieving success with Williams after his show of trust, Sainz replied: “No. For me, the most important thing is next year. The target is to make up ground and get out of the situation we’re in today.

“I want to get back to winning as soon as possible.

“This year we’ve fallen behind where we expected to be. It’s a setback on the journey we need to make to get where we want to be.

“But there are also a lot of projects going on behind the scenes at Williams that the media, the fans and the public don’t see, and they are moving forward. That has made me believe that we can soon start moving back in the right direction.

“Personally, the changes that are taking place, these new projects and the new people joining the team give me reasons to remain optimistic.”

Michael Manning, formerly a key member of Max Verstappen’s engineering team at Red Bull, recently made the move to Williams to take on the title of Chief Engineer – Trackside Engineering.

“I want to stay here and achieve together the targets we set ourselves two years ago,” Sainz continued.

“I have confidence in James [Vowles] and in the management. We share the same motivation to get back to the front as quickly as possible.”

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Speaking with PlanetF1.com and others at Zandvoort, Sainz had stressed that it is not “part of my character to jump ships when the situation is at its worst.”

Sainz also confirmed that he did not “fully go into considering” offers outside of Williams, due to his continued commitment to the project. Sainz had been heavily linked with a switch to Audi.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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