Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
Rumours have suggested that Carlos Sainz is considering his future at Williams, and his father is now putting him under pressure to leave the team.
The Spaniard looked to be making strong progress with Williams in 2025, having grabbed two podiums in Baku and Qatar. But despite focusing development on the 2026 rule changes, the Grove outfit have regressed.
Having scored just 11 points in the opening seven races, rumours abound that Sainz is thinking about leaving Williams. He is free to do so in 2026, and his father, Carlos Sainz Snr, wants his son to take his advice.
Carlos Sainz is ‘under pressure’ from his father to leave Williams and ‘try out for Audi’
Multiple teams are keeping tabs on the 31-year-old. Ferrari would be open to signing Sainz and bringing him back to Maranello.
Sainz is also looking at McLaren and whether Oscar Piastri could be leaving the team amid his links to Red Bull. But the Spaniard’s father has another option in mind.
Will Carlos Sainz ever drive for a top F1 team again? If so, who?
Toto Wolff confirmed that Carlos Sainz was an option before Mercedes signed Kimi Antonelli
According to a report from Blick, Sainz has ‘had enough’ of Williams. The team are struggling to make progress under the new regulations, with the Madrid native recording a best finish of ninth three times.
He is also ‘under pressure’ from his father, suggesting that Sainz Snr wants his son to consider another team – that team in question would be Audi.
Sainz ignored his father’s advice and turned down Audi before deciding to join Williams. Now, he is reportedly going to ‘finally try out’ for the German manufacturer.
READ MORE: Williams star Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height
James Vowles says Carlos Sainz will be transparent if he wants to leave Williams
Despite the rumours, Williams boss James Vowles insists that Sainz and Alex Albon have bought into the project and, should they want to leave, they will be open about it.
He told Motorsport: “The great thing with both is they have the same values I do, which is honesty, transparency,” Vowles stated. “So we have honest conversations, all the way from October last year when I started to see problems, to January till March – and then here’s what we’re doing to fix this in this year.
“What it’s meant for Carlos and Alex is that they can see that what you see with me is what you get. I will tell you the bad bits, but I’ll tell you the good bits as well.
If F1 welcomed Carlos Sainz’s ‘crazy’ idea, which driver would win the championship and why?
“And there’s some good bits that are still there. The development rates we’re hitting now and what we’re bringing to the track, the rate we can bring it to the track.
“Because we have the same values in that honesty and transparency, it means that if they are considering anything else, they come to me and talk to me about it.
“At the moment, Carlos and Alex want their future to be here. They’ve said that to me, but they’ve said that to you publicly as well at the same time.”
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
