Martin Brundle fears that Carlos Sainz’s F1 career will come to a halt at Williams. The Spaniard, who previously developed at Renault, McLaren, and Ferrari, has been at the back of the field since this year. During the first Grands Prix of the season, Williams occasionally picked up some championship points, but in recent races the team has played no significant role. Bad news for Sainz, warns Brundle.
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After Williams’ fifth place in the 2025 constructors’ championship, including podium finishes for Sainz in Azerbaijan and Qatar, the Grove-based team seemed ready for the next step. The team focused its development early on the changed regulations for 2026, but this has not yet yielded the desired result. Williams has slipped back to the rear. During the recent Hungarian GP, even Aston Martin was faster than Sainz and teammate Alex Albon.
Brundle understands that Sainz’s future is therefore once again a topic of discussion, partly due to the ongoing interest from Audi. “He (Sainz, ed.) is really committed to Williams, right?” responded the former driver in an analysis for Sky Sports. “He decided at the time not to go to Audi, although I think his father would have liked that. His family has a long-standing relationship with Audi.” Carlos Sainz Sr. has maintained close ties with the German brand for years through his successful rally career.
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‘Carlos Sainz keeps his options open’
Reportedly, Audi is still interested in the services of the Madrilenian. “I think Carlos (Sainz, ed.) is now keeping his options open,” Brundle added. “It’s frustrating. His career is somewhat stalled, to say the least, which is not ideal.” Someone with Sainz’s track record deserves better, according to the Englishman. “He has driven some brilliant races at Ferrari, but the path he is now on seems to be a dead end. Hopefully, Williams can strike back in 2027.”
Brundle thinks the British team misjudged the new generation of F1 cars. “They said: ‘Look, we are sacrificing 2025 because of the completely new regulations, the biggest regulatory change in the history of our sport.’ But the results were disappointing. McLaren and some other teams have experienced that too: the lessons from the ground effect era do not simply translate to 2026. I suspect Williams ran into the same problem. At the start of the season, the car was also quite heavy. All in all, they can only be disappointed. If you look at their results in qualifying and races, you mainly see double digits.”
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