The road from Ferrari to Williams was supposed to lead somewhere. Right now, it’s leading nowhere near the points. Rumors of a potential Carlos Sainz exit from Williams have now intensified, and the name being floated as a possible destination is one that passed on him before: Audi.
Sources suggest Sainz is naturally disillusioned with the problems Williams is facing in 2026 and is actively considering his options.
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Given where the team currently sits, that’s not a surprising conclusion to reach.
After helping Williams to fifth in the 2025 Constructors’ Championship and raising real expectations for the new era, the 2026 season has instead become a nightmare. The team missed the opening pre-season test following development delays and arrived at the first race with an overweight and uncompetitive FW48.
James Vowles has now admitted that the team won’t realistically be fighting at the front until 2028 or later, and after seven rounds, Williams are already 251 points adrift of Mercedes.
Unfortunately for the Spaniard, Williams has become less of a rebuilding project and more of a waiting room.
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Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer said:
“I imagine Carlos is keeping a good eye on what’s going on at the front of the field. This isn’t what he signed up for. Williams have been incredibly disappointing so far.”
David Coulthard argued that Sainz “has gone from Ferrari winning grands prix to Williams being happy scoring points” and is almost certainly scanning the horizon for what comes next.
Audi Wanted Him Then, and Apparently Still Does
When Sainz was a free agent heading into 2025, it was Williams that beat out Sauber, which would have had him joining the team’s transition into the Audi project, to secure his signature.
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Audi had reportedly made him a lucrative offer at the time, but Sainz had doubts about how competitive a brand-new power unit programme could be from day one, and Williams looked like the safer, faster bet. In 2025, that logic held up fine. In 2026, it’s looking a little shaky.
Audi’s F1 project chief Mattia Binotto has admitted to trying to lure Sainz to the German outfit, according to Planet F1, a reminder that the interest from that side of the paddock was and apparently remains genuine. But with its drivers still in contract, the issue is purely just time.
Audi has made a reasonable start to 2026, which makes the comparison with Williams’s struggles even more pointed for Sainz. The door at Audi isn’t wide open, though. Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto are both under contract through 2027, meaning any move would be a conversation about 2028 at the earliest rather than an immediate rescue mission.
Sainz has said he believes Vowles’ target of fighting the top teams by 2028 is “realistic,” but the question is whether that timeline matches his own career ambitions.
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That’s a very polite way of saying he’s not sure he wants to spend two more years at the back of the grid waiting for a car that might arrive when he’s already 34.
Sainz’s manager has also reportedly approached Red Bull, given the uncertainty surrounding Max Verstappen‘s long-term future there, which suggests the Audi angle is one of several conversations happening in parallel rather than a done deal.
What makes this more than a routine contract rumor is the combination of genuine talent going to waste and a manufacturer that has already shown its hand. Audi wanted Sainz once. Williams isn’t making the case for why they should stop wanting him now.
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