Carlos Sainz shares what he’s ‘worrying about now’ ahead of the 2026 F1 season with Williams

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Williams driver Carlos Sainz has had his sights set on the 2026 Formula 1 season ever since he left Ferrari, and is embarking on the next step of his work towards next year.

Carlos Sainz won’t be satisfied with how his first season with Williams has played out.

After two-thirds of the 2025 Formula 1 season, Sainz is currently 18th in the drivers’ championship.

It means the only drivers behind Sainz in the standings are Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and the two Alpine drivers, Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto, who have shared the second seat alongside Pierre Gasly this year.

Tsunoda’s Formula 1 future is hanging in the balance, with Max Verstappen once again showing how much of an advantage he has over his teammates at Red Bull.

Alpine haven’t decided whether to continue with Colapinto beyond 2025, although his performances have started to improve recently.

Sainz is already locked in for 2026 at Williams despite his difficult start this year, so he doesn’t have to worry about his future.

Teammate Alex Albon has been sensational this year, and sits 11 positions and 54 points ahead of Sainz heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Spaniard has already switched focus to next year, and shared what he’s now ‘worrying about’ ahead of 2026 and F1’s changing regulations.

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Carlos Sainz ‘worrying’ about helping Mercedes develop their 2026 power unit

Sainz was speaking to Motorsport Week about next season, and the 31-year-old explained: “Yeah, my target is also, I think, like always, to judge how well Williams has done in that development process and which car do we have for the beginning of the season.

“Then you set your targets depending on the car that we see in the first race. Like we did this year in Australia.

“For me, it’s too early to know whether we will be outdeveloped or we will come up with a good car.

“Regulations are so different and so completely nothing to do with this year that we don’t know who’s gonna be outdeveloped in one year’s time or not.

“It’s too far away, and what I’m worrying about now is what I can [do to] help [Mercedes] HPP in the simulator to give us better software for next year’s car.

“What can I do to develop this team execution-wise, race weekend execution-wise in the short term because that’s what’s gonna pay back in six months.”

READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties

Mercedes could benefit from Carlos Sainz’s experience despite 2025 signing snub

There are plenty of suggestions in the paddock that Mercedes will have the best power unit in 2026, which could be essential to being a competitive outfit next year.

Red Bull are expected to be a couple of tenths off the pace, and Ferrari can’t be ruled out just yet, given their pedigree in the sport.

Mercedes, constructors’ championship leaders McLaren, Williams and Alpine could all benefit from having the best power units next year, meaning all four teams will have aspirations to be in title contention.

It means that the Spaniard’s work with HPP could benefit all four teams, including Mercedes, which decided against signing Sainz last year when they knew Lewis Hamilton was joining Ferrari.

It’s yet to be seen whether their decision to promote Andrea Kimi Antonelli is going to pay off in the long run for Mercedes, but if 2026 is as tough for Sainz as this season has been, then the Spaniard might be looking for his next move in the F1 paddock.