Carlos Sainz wants to score points to extend his time at Williams
Freshly recruited within the Grove team through a multi-year contract, the current Ferrari driver nevertheless revealed his objectives to stay in the team. Even though he knows he won't be fighting for victories, the Spanish driver wants to regularly score points.
This is a new chapter opening for Carlos Sainz. Next year, the Spaniard will discover a fifth team by joining Williams after stints at Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, and Ferrari. A two-year contract awaits the Ferrari driver, with objectives very different from those he currently knows.
Indeed, this season, he is playing a leading role and must help Ferrari win the constructors’ title against McLaren and Red Bull. In 2025, the Spaniard will probably find himself in much less favorable positions, with Williams being a back-of-the-grid car. However, the winner of the Australian Grand Prix this season accepts this situation, despite his desire to stay with Ferrari, as he had negotiated a contract extension before the Italian team chose Lewis Hamilton as Charles Leclerc’s teammate for 2025.
Sainz demands top 10 finishes at Williams.
However, the Spanish driver recently stated that he did not want to be a mere extra within the British team, and even mentioned the possibility of extending his contract with the team led by James Vowles. For this to happen, the car will have to be capable of consistently reaching the top 10 next season, a trend that Williams already seems to be pursuing, as the team has just achieved four top 10 results in the last seven races, whereas they had none in the first seven. A significant challenge, but one that does not scare the Spanish driver, who has already faced similar situations in the past.
« It’s a position I know. It’s something I’ll have to readjust to, he told the Spanish newspaper AS. « But it’s a position I’ve been in for seven of my ten years of career, fighting for points without winning.
The former Toro Rosso driver does not seem upset about the situation that will arise for him next year, considering that a Formula 1 driver’s career does not always allow him to have equipment that enables him to win races, and that sometimes one has to prove his worth in the middle of the pack. This is the life of a Formula 1 driver. You can ask so many other drivers who have been in this situation. Nothing guarantees that you will fight for victories, so you have to take advantage of the opportunities. Not just as a result, enjoy the victory, but also mentally, because you have the chance to be among the top 20 drivers in the world, and to be one of the three or four who can win a race.
An experience in the middle of the pack that should serve him
Despite everything, the Spanish driver hopes to see progress at Williams, James Vowles’ team currently being in eighth place in the constructors’ standings, with only 16 points scored. He particularly hopes to have a car capable of regularly scoring points. “My next step is Williams, and we must try to do something at Williams similar to what I have done at Ferrari or McLaren. I want to help the team progress. I have the experience and good energy, being still young, to help them move forward. I have been good at this in the past and it is my next goal.” Sainz hopes to take advantage of his experience in midfield teams, especially at McLaren where he truly emerged as a talented driver, capable of winning Grand Prix races, which he eventually did three times in his career.
Sainz willing to extend his contract with Williams
If his two years with Williams go well, the current Ferrari driver is even considering extending his contract and has confidence in his abilities, as well as Williams’, to provide him with a car capable of winning championships, something Vowles hopes to achieve by 2027-2028. “I have full confidence that I have all the attributes I need to be world champion, and if one day I am given the right car, in the right place and at the right time, I will be able to win it,” said Sainz during a conversation with the Straits Times. “If Williams is fighting for the top 10, we need to make sure we are a consistent team in the points for the next two years I will be with them. If these years go well and I see that we are heading in the right direction, I would also like to be able to bet on them for the future.”
The Spaniard must first finish his chapter with Ferrari on a high note, perhaps by winning the Constructors’ Championship, before bidding farewell to the Italian team, a team that allowed him to achieve his first victories and become an attractive driver on the market, ultimately convincing Williams to recruit him.
