What once looked like a sideways step for Carlos Sainz has instead become a statement season with Williams – one that explains, and justifies, why the Spaniard chose Grove as his home in F1.
Williams’ fifth-place finish in the 2025 Constructors’ Championship, powered by Sainz’s two podiums in Azerbaijan and Qatar, stands as a tangible reward for a decision many doubted.
But for the former Ferrari driver, it has become something more personal: proof that his belief in Williams’ project was not misplaced.
Reflecting on a whirlwind season, Sainz admitted how quickly it all unfolded.
“It’s gone much quicker than I thought it would!” he told F1.com. “The fact that we are on the run so much in between races, non-stop…
“The sport is growing massively, so you do more marketing, more travelling, more races… By the end of the year, you cannot understand how it’s all flown by.”
Early struggles adapting to a new car and environment gradually gave way to momentum. By the time the season reached its closing stretch, Williams were no longer clinging on – they were advancing.
“But, if you told me at the beginning of the year that there was going to be fifth position for Williams at the end of the championship, a good step forward, closing the gap to the top teams, and a couple of podiums, I would have taken it. It’s been a good year overall.”
And with results in hand, Sainz feels his decision has finally been validated.
“Also, when I signed with Williams in the summer of 2024, if I would have told people that I’m joining them because these results are going to happen, they wouldn’t have fully believed me.
“I have the results now to back why I chose this team—a vindication,” the Spaniard maintained.
Inside the Williams Reality Check
Central to Sainz’s smooth transition was the frankness of Williams team principal James Vowles. Rather than selling an illusion, Vowles laid out both the promise and the pitfalls awaiting his new driver.
“After a tough end to 2024, with a lot of crashes, lacking parts, and being slow in Abu Dhabi, James was like, ‘Next year’s car is going to be okay. We’re going to be quick. It’s going to be a good step’,” Sainz explained.
“The moment we put the new car on track for testing in Bahrain, I realized how much of a big step the team had done.”
But optimism came with caution.
“But then, as much as he told me those positives, James also said, ‘You’re going to see some very big flaws that we have as a team at the moment’. He was very honest about it, he spoke sense, and he was very realistic.”
What Sainz discovered was a team of extremes – flashes of excellence offset by glaring shortcomings.
“The thing about Williams is there are so many areas where the team is closer to the top than what I would have expected it to be,” he added.
“But then I also found some other areas that we are very far behind. For me, it’s about being very vocal and very clear about the areas that are not good enough.
“There are very big contrasts in this team. You have incredibly talented people, you have very good ideas.
“But then there are other things – processes, tools, simulation – where the team is really, really far behind. It’s how we accelerate the process, and everyone’s working flat-out to develop those weaknesses to make sure we are a top team.”
Crucially, transparency has kept expectations aligned.
“I feel like the good thing is the management, in this case James and [Dorilton Capital], were always super honest to me about them,” he said.
“All of the [weaknesses] have been briefed; I haven’t found any nasty surprises, and I’ve just gone into it being realistic, knowing that the only thing I can do is give my best to try and help.”
Eyes on 2026
The results have validated the present – but Sainz is careful not to let success blur realism, especially with sweeping regulation changes looming.
“The team is on an upward trajectory, and it’s fundamental to continue that trajectory – it’s important to keep showing progress, to not stall that progress that we are showing.”
©Williams
Even so, Formula 1’s next reset brings uncertainty that no amount of momentum can fully control.
“Having said that, with such a big change of regulations, that progress might look different next year, because it’s going to be so unpredictable to know where everyone’s going to be.
“But I trust what the team is doing; I trust all the efforts that we’ve been putting into next year’s car through all the simulator sessions and all the development work.”
For now, confidence replaces doubt – cautiously, deliberately.
“I’m feeling positive. I’m relatively happy and confident about it, but with the impossibility to say more than, ‘I don’t know where we’re going to be’,” concluded Sainz.
Vindication, then, not as a declaration – but as a season-long answer, written in results rather than rhetoric.
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