Carlos Sainz set for fresh Williams deal with enforced status

Carlos Sainz and Williams are very close to agreeing a new contract, with an announcement highly likely in the coming days, before the Dutch Grand Prix weekend at Zandvoort, RacingNews365 understands.

The four-time grand prix winner, who joined the team on a two-year deal ahead of the 2025 F1 season, has been in discussions with team principal James Vowles over his future beyond 2026, and those talks are now understood to be in their final stages.

While the exact financial details remain undisclosed, sources indicate to RacingNews365 that Sainz will receive a significantly improved salary — one that far exceeds what one might expect from a team like Williams.

What Williams expects from Sainz

Williams is having a disappointing season. The FW48 has failed to live up to expectations, and the team is currently in ninth place in the constructors' championship, with Sainz scoring points on three occasions and Alex Albon just once.

In terms of pace, even Aston Martin overtook the Grove-based outfit at the Hungarian Grand Prix before the summer break, and Adrian Newey’s team will soon be bolstered by Honda’s new engine, making Williams' situation even more difficult.

Therefore, it is crucial to retain its valuable driver, whose attention to detail and technical feedback are critical to its chances of a turnaround and to making its ambitious plans work.

It is also important to have his commitment at a relatively early stage of the season, as it’s a positive message to the paddock and the outside world, and a motivating factor for the whole organisation.   

Given the team's current situation, a seat at Williams is not the most attractive option, so while it wants to keep its top driver, it is suspected the team is ready to make some compromises, whether that comes to salary or other factors.

What Sainz needs to be comfortable

Sainz's performance is widely recognised throughout the paddock; some teams have shown interest in him, but for 2027 there are no open seats in the upper half of the field.

The Spaniard has never hidden the fact that performance is the most important thing for him, something that is clearly missing at Williams this year. A lucrative deal is a way to compensate, but the struggles of the current campaign should be ringing alarm bells.   

Based on the experience of this season, it would be a completely legitimate request to ask for guarantees for rapid progress and signing high-profile technical personnel.

While asking for guarantees in F1 is always difficult, top drivers always protect themselves with various clauses that can be activated if certain conditions are not met.

The contracts of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc are the most well-known examples of this, but such clauses are included in the contracts of most drivers.

Considering that the driver market in 2027 may offer currently unseen opportunities, Sainz — like the others — will probably put a stronger focus on clauses about team performance this time around, such as position in the points standings and other factors.

In the modern reality of F1, these things are inevitable for a driver to have enough comfort and flexibility, even if a partnership is planned for multiple years, like his current challenge at Williams.

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