Martin Brundle foresees that Carlos Sainz will face a difficult dilemma. His Williams adventure seems to be turning out wrong in 2026, now that the team appears much less competitive than last year. According to the former F1 driver, transfer options are currently lacking; there are few other teams where the 31-year-old Sainz, who has already won four Grands Prix with Ferrari, can continue his career.
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“Where could Carlos (Sainz, ed.) go?” Brundle wondered aloud during a broadcast of Sky Sports. “He’s been at McLaren, he’s been at Red Bull in the form of Toro Rosso, he’s been at Ferrari and he’s been at Williams.” Additionally, Williams itself is having a difficult start under the new regulations, with a car that proves not competitive enough to realize the British team’s title ambitions. Problems piled up early on, when the team was forced to skip the shakedown in Barcelona and struggled with an overweight chassis.
Replacement for Verstappen?
Although Sainz has since scored points, Williams remains behind in the pecking order. His move to the Grove-based team followed his forced departure from Ferrari. The Spaniard had set his sights on a competitive long-term project, where he would benefit from the new F1 regulations. For now, however, that competitiveness is nowhere to be found. Brundle outlines that there are few ways out for the driver. “There is no place for him at Mercedes,” he noted. “He also had a stint at Renault, of course, which is now Alpine. It’s hard to say where he could go to find something better without returning to teams he’s driven for before. So it’s really difficult for him.”
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“I feel for him,” Brundle admitted. “While I don’t think he’s of the same caliber as Verstappen and co., he really is a fighter. Just like his father, he is tireless, and we have seen that many times.” Still, much needs to change if Sainz is to make another transfer to a competitive team. “Unless Red Bull suddenly needs a replacement for Verstappen because he’s going GT racing for a year or something like that, I don’t know what his options are.”
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