Carlos Sainz reaffirms timeline over Williams F1 future decision

Carlos Sainz has reiterated that he will come to a decision on his F1 future during the ongoing summer break.

The Spaniard joined the Grove-based squad last year following his departure from Ferrari and hoped to be part of the resurgence project outlined by Williams team boss James Vowles.

However, the 2026 campaign under fresh technical regulations has been a struggle as it has slipped back in the pecking order relative to its position in 2025.

Williams has long targeted the regulation reset as a chance to jump up the order, but instead it has slipped further behind the front-runners.

It has led to speculation that it could prompt Sainz to look for a route out of the team.

When asked when he will come to a conclusion over his future, Sainz told media including RacingNews365: “I honestly don’t know. 

“I cannot give you a date, but I imagine, as I always said, that I was going to wait until the summer to sit down with my team and think about this.

“Discuss with them, with James and everyone, the future of the team and my future in it.”

While Sainz declared that a decision may become clearer during the downtime, he is unsure when a final call will be made.

“I expect that during the summer we will start to take a decision and start to see a bit more of the situation, but the exact timing, I don’t know.”