Carlos Sainz shares the ‘only thing’ he misses from his time at Ferrari after joining Williams

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Carlos Sainz is not having the start to life at Williams that many expected at the start of the 2025 season.

The Spaniard joined the Grove outfit after Ferrari replaced him with Lewis Hamilton for 2025 and beyond. With four race wins to his name, many felt that Sainz would offer a strong challenge to Alex Albon at Williams, with the Thai driver having carried the team almost single-handedly since 2022.

However, Albon has relished the challenge of having a more experienced and successful teammate as he sits top of the midfield drivers with four fifth-place finishes thus far.

Meanwhile, Sainz has been finding points finishes hard to come by, having finished in the top 10 six times. He is sitting 48 points behind Albon as he struggles to find consistent performance in the FW47.

The 30-year-old knows that Williams is a project, with team principal James Vowles heavily focusing on the 2026 regulations to be competitive with the new cars. But he is not currently fighting at the front as often as he was with Ferrari.

Carlos Sainz admits the ‘only thing’ he misses at Ferrari is the pressure of fighting for a win or a podium

Speaking to ESPN, Sainz admits that the ‘excitement’ of fighting for a win or a podium with Ferrari is the ‘only thing’ he misses from the team. He feels he does not need to make any other adjustments, saying that more hard work will bring that feeling back at Williams

“That’s the one thing I miss,” he said. “The pressure and the excitement of going into a weekend knowing you’re fighting for a podium or a win. That’s the only thing really I miss from the past.

“That pressure, that adrenaline, that feeling you get in the body when you know you’re going into a weekend where you might have a chance to win or to step on the podium.

“But apart from that, honestly the competitive side of me goes into every weekend so fired up that it doesn’t need any other adjustments.

“I feel like the more we work this year and the better we work this year, the earlier that feeling of winning and some podiums will come back.”

READ MORE: Williams star Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height

Will Carlos Sainz leave Williams amid interest from F1 rivals?

Williams are concerned about Sainz in a way that they are not with Albon, in that they believe he has missed out on their most competitive moments. The Thai driver has beaten his teammate 10-4 in races thus far, with mechanical problems, incidents and operational errors hampering the Spaniard.

David Croft thinks Sainz has created a ‘big problem’ at Williams with his qualifying, as Albon is starting to break into Q3 more regularly. The 30-year-old will hope things will improve, but an early exit is possible.

Sainz has an exit clause in his Williams contract that could allow him to leave almost immediately. It was previously mentioned that he could leave if either Mercedes or Red Bull made an offer, with both teams having seats available in 2026.

Sainz emerged as Red Bull’s ‘Plan B’ if Max Verstappen decided to leave at the end of the year. Now that the Dutchman will stay put and Mercedes are likely to keep their current drivers, the Spaniard will have to wait and see where Williams are in 2026.