Sainz: I don't know how much I'm going to miss winning

Sainz joins former champions Williams who were ninth of the 10 Formula 1 teams last year and are looking more at 2026, when the sport undergoes a major shakeup and enters a new engine era, for any big step up.

The 30-year-old Spaniard, who ceded his place at Ferrari to seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton and is now on his fifth different Formula 1 team, said first impressions of the car were positive and he felt highly motivated.

After a stint shaking down the brand new Williams FW47, Sainz told reporters at Silverstone: "I think this is a good show of Williams' progress, to be bold enough to prepare a test where all of our partners are here, all the media is invited to see the first laps of the car.

"It shows the trust that Williams has in their new tools to produce a car that is going to be here on time, is going to be working well like it did today without any issues and I think it's a good sign," ventured the veteran of 206 Grand Prix starts before this new Williams chapter.

F1 Stats show that Sainz won four races with Ferrari, two of them last season, and left reluctantly -- choosing Williams over last-placed Sauber despite that team becoming the Audi factory outfit in 2026.

He said he had already adjusted to seeing former Mercedes driver Hamilton in red Ferrari overalls but could not say how he would feel to be fighting a different battle: "I don't know how I'm going to react to fighting for the seventh to the 15th (place), I don't know how much I'm going to miss it (winning), I don't know how much fun I'm going to find it.

"The only thing I can tell you is I'm very happy, I'm very motivated, I'm excited, I feel supported, I feel a team full of good energy, positive energy. I have a team principal and a team that fully trusts in my abilities and that want to listen to what I say and I have confidence in my abilities to help the team to move forward.

"I like Alex (Albon) as a teammate in how we can both push this team forward. So the whole project, the whole thing just motivates me a lot," Sainz added.