Sainz: I don’t think Williams will be ready next year

Sainz is in his first season with Williams after being replaced at Ferrari by seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton and has always insisted on his commitment to being part of the rebuilding process of the once-great British team.

Williams, under the leadership of James Vowles, who joined ahead of the 2023 F1 season, have shown quite some improvement, as they have featured in the top ten in qualifying in all but one race this year—the Spanish Grand Prix—while they have managed to score points on seven occasions.

In 2026, F1 will debut new chassis and power unit regulations, which will reset the pecking order, but Sainz is cautious about making any predictions regarding Williams' chances.

He said: "I don’t think we’ll be ready next year. It would be fantastic to take another step forward, because that would mean being with the top teams—but my experience at Ferrari also taught me that it’s one thing to be in the group, another to actually beat the front-runners.

"This year we’re getting a first taste—in some qualifying sessions, we’ve been able to fight on par with Mercedes and Ferrari, and that wasn’t a given. Then we made mistakes that cost us a lot of points, which proves that a team’s growth isn’t just about the car—the whole organization has to grow, and I think James is the right person for that.

"I believe we’ll get there, so in a way it’s better to accept a few mistakes this season—since we don’t yet have a car that allows us to fight for the biggest goals," the Spaniard maintained.

McLaren are now the team to beat in F1, and Sainz drove for them in 2019 and 2020 before Ferrari came calling in 2021, when he replaced four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel.

McLaren were not competitive at the time, and Sainz claims there are many similarities between them and Williams; he explained: "At Williams, I found very capable people across the board.

"I remember when I joined McLaren, Andrea Stella and Peter Prodromou were there—maybe not yet in the roles they have today—but their profiles and ability were already very clear.

"When Ferrari came calling, I didn’t hesitate—it’s Ferrari—but I knew McLaren was going to grow. I still bump into Andrea in the paddock and I always tell him: it’s great to see what you guys have achieved.

"Even though I left just when they were starting to move forward, I have great memories," he concluded.

Sainz has raced in nine grands prix with Williams and scored points in five of them. He is 13th in the F1 drivers' standings with 12 points. Teammate Alex Albon is eighth with 42 points, while Williams are currently fifth in the constructors' standings with 54 points.

(Quotes from Motorsport.com)