Translation:

F1 - Resounding Sainz: refuses Audi and points a biennial Williams

by Roberto Chinchero

The Spaniard prefers Grove’s team equipped with the Mercedes engine and Sauber with the Audi engine. Carlos, after a period of reflection, seems intent on running in a team where there is not too much politics in the knowledge that at the end of 2026 the market games will reopen for more competitive seats.

Carlos Sainz is considering the possibility of a future at Williams. It is not speculation, but a real negotiation that the management of the Spaniard is carrying out as an alternative to the Audi choice. At first evaluation, the Sainz-Williams pairing may seem surprising, but a more in-depth analysis reveals a different scenario. The latest rumors have confirmed that for Sainz (net of twists and turns) the doors of Mercedes and Red Bull are closed, a situation that deprives Carlos of the opportunity to have a seat in a top-team, at least in 2025. The scenario that follows is very clear: Alpine, Haas, Williams and Sauber remain on the market (read Audi). In the perspective of next season, tieling to Williams does not mean aiming for anything less than it is potentially possible to get behind the wheel of a Sauber. Indeed, if the current trend has followed (in 2025 there should be no new projects, but developments of the single-seaters on the track this season will be more likely), or greater competitiveness of the Williams package. The choice must obviously also be read in 2026 key, given that no team (and even less Sainz) are looking for annual contracts. In two years it will start from a blank sheet, it will obviously be for Audi and Williams. In the case of the German team there will be the long-awaited debut of the first power unit studied and realized independently, while Williams will be heavily dependent on the Mercedes project. If in Brixworth they can do a job up to the high expectations of Toto Wolff, Williams will also benefit, as already seen in 2014 when at the beginning of the hybrid power units the English team ended the season in third place in the Constructors’ championship. In 2026 there will be a large driver market, as many of the contracts signed during this season will expire, and Sainz (who will be 32 years old) will be able to revalue his future. This is, and will be, an important step for Carlos, who won’t want to get caught off the footwalk like this season happened. The choice of the next two years must be read as the best possible compromise to return to the square that counts when the doors of the top-teams will reopen. Sainz will not let a lot of time pass yet to make his decision, Audi or Williams. The English team has obviously also evaluated alternative options, with Valtteri Bottas at the top of the list of ‘plan B’. “I will simply put all the options on the table and make the right decision – Sainz explained today in a media meeting – I can only tell you that as soon as all aspects are clarified, it will materialize very quickly. But at the moment I have not yet decided, and I can add that I do not have fixed deadlines to meet. What I’m going to make is an important decision for my career, I’ll be 30 years old soon, and I’ll give myself all the time I need to evaluate every detail of the choice I make.”