Carlos Sainz admits Williams are 'very bad' as he reveals summer decision over F1 future

F1 star Carlos Sainz has given a painfully honest assessment of Williams' first half of the 2026 season operating under the new regulations.

Sainz may have felt he was in for quite the shock when he headed to the Grove-based F1 squad having been replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari for 2025 and beyond, but his new team performed surprisingly well last season.

The Spaniard even made not one but two podium appearances in his first campaign with Williams, though team principal James Vowles failed to keep that positive momentum going over the winter.

The British squad skipped this year's pre-season shakedown in Barcelona altogether, with Vowles going on to admit later in the year that the team had not performed optimally over the winter months in preparation for the introduction of F1's new chassis and power unit rules.

The timings could not be worse for the Williams boss who worked tirelessly to convince Sainz to lead the project he felt could see the team competing for wins and championships in years to come.

Sainz's contract is due to expire at the end of this year, and if the second half of the season goes as badly as the first, the chances of Williams retaining Sainz look slim.

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Sainz leaves door open to Williams exit after 2026 setback

In quotes reported by Spanish publication MARCA following a disastrous Hungarian Grand Prix for Sainz on Sunday, the Williams star described the first half of 2026 as 'very bad.'

The 31-year-old then dismissed the idea that individual components on the car were to blame for the run of poor results over the past month, such as the front wing upgrade introduced on the FW48 at this year’s British GP.

"The front wing has helped, although a little less than we expected,” said Sainz before issuing a damning assessment of his 2026 challenger. “The problem isn't the front wing, it's the whole car that isn't producing downforce."

On the first half of the year with Williams, Sainz continued: "Bad, very bad, disappointing. I think it's far below expectations and where we want to be as a team."

Looking for some positives in his current situation with the team that sit third from last in the constructors' championship, Sainz continued: "The important thing is to see that there are teams like McLaren and Aston that show us that when things didn't go their way, they learned and applied what they learned. There's a lot of lap time to be found when you develop new regulations and new rules.

"Now it's up to us to see if we're capable of that kind of reaction and if we can improve.

"On a personal level, I think there's very little more we can get out of the car. I've had a very strong first half of the year with these new regulations, adapting very well to the car, the engine, everything, so I'm neither upset nor depressed, because on a personal level I'm driving well, very well in fact, but if the car isn't performing, we have to take a very big step if we want to recover."

The suggestion that the car is to blame does not bode well for Williams, especially considering that Sainz also failed to rule out a move away from the team at the end of the season.

Discussing his future, Sainz confirmed he will make the decision over where he will be racing in 2027 over the next few weeks as the championship's summer shutdown takes place.

"The plan is to decide, but yes, we have to look at it calmly," he concluded.

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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