Carlos Sainz warned he risks F1 oblivion by staying at Williams and ignoring 'no-brainer'

Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz warned he risks F1 oblivion by staying at Williams and ignoring 'no-brainer'

A grim warning for the Spaniard

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Wednesday 19 August 2026 19:45 Updated: 20:32

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Carlos Sainz has been warned that he risks F1 oblivion by committing his future to Williams.

The 31-year-old Spaniard ended all the silly season speculation about moves to Audi, Red Bull or even Aston Martin by signing a new multi-year deal on Wednesday.

The contract is highly lucrative - reports suggest up to 30 million Euro per season - and it is also believed to contain exit clauses based on the team's future performance.

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But despite that, not everybody believes it is a great deal, and near the top of that list would be former Williams star and current Sky Sports Germany analyst Ralf Schumacher.

Schumacher spoke about the future of Sainz just 24 hours before the new deal was announced, on the latest episode of the Backstage Boxengasse podcast.

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Sainz and an Adrian Newey 'no-brainer'

“Well, that’s a no-brainer, of course - I’d leave Williams straight away and go to Adrian Newey at Aston Martin, no question about it. As far as Carlos Sainz is concerned, the question now is: what does he want?

“Does he want to continue to be successful? Does he want to stay in Formula 1? And if he’s counting on racing well into his 40s - then he urgently needs to leave Williams.”

Schumacher's fears for Sainz are based on his own experiences, as he continued: “One thing is clear, and I know this from my own time with Toyota.

Ralf Schumacher says Sainz should have joined Newey at Aston Martin.

'Eventually you'll be forgotten'

“If you’re out of the loop for such a long time, away from the top drivers and the top positions, then simply too many newcomers come through, and eventually you’ll be forgotten, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen to Carlos Sainz.

“Williams didn’t understand the new concept at all and couldn’t get the car right. So that means they still don’t have the structure to build a good car from a new set of regulations. They’re starting from scratch again now - and I’d say it’s actually below scratch.

“It’ll take ages again, and I don’t think that’s going to change. Carlos Sainz knows that. So if he has an alternative, he has to take it.”

F1 Carlos Sainz Williams Ralf Schumacher