Carlos Sainz says he never considered leaving the Williams Formula 1 team, having signed a new deal for 2027 last week alongside team-mate Alexander Albon.
For the legendary British team, a nine-time constructors’ championship winner, 2026 has been a tough season so far. The FW48 has been losing ground in the pecking order and has failed to score any points in the last six rounds. This openly led team principal James Vowles to fear he may not be able to retain his current line-up.
Back when he lost his Ferrari drive ahead of the 2025 season, Sainz had entered talks with both Williams and the future Audi squad before opting for the Grove-based outfit. Two years later, media reports linked Sainz with a move to Audi for 2027, though there was no obvious vacancy in Hinwil, and the Spaniard has now told Motorsport.com he did not really consider any such career path.
“No, it was just the usual paddock rumours,” he said in our exclusive interview. “I can confirm that this year I never seriously considered going anywhere else.”
Unlike Albon, who committed to Williams for 2027 only, Sainz signed a “multi-year contract”, hinting at a deal that stretches at least until 2028 – though the wording is commonly used to refer to mere contractual options for the following years.
Sainz was therefore asked whether the new agreement meant he was out of reach from top teams, and his answer was elusive.
“The usual process is that, before signing a contract, you always assess the overall situation,” he said. “But when we put everything on the table, another aspect emerged that is very important to me: I’ve never liked leaving a team when it’s going through a difficult period.
“It’s not in my character to go somewhere else if the situation has become worse since I joined the team. When I committed to the Williams project, I knew there could be difficult moments and, even though the one we’re going through now is particularly tough, I’m ready to accept it.
“Nobody in the team is happy with the current situation, and we’re all pushing to change it as quickly as possible. But, as I said, it’s not in my nature to abandon ship when things get tough.”
