Carlos Sainz has expressed his goals for the 2025 season as he embarks on a new chapter with Williams. The Spanish driver is optimistic that the team will deliver a reliable midfield car, enabling him to compete consistently for points and gradually build towards a championship challenge in the coming years.
After departing Ferrari to make space for Lewis Hamilton, Sainz joined Williams this year, racing alongside Alex Albon. This move marks Sainz’s fifth Formula 1 team appearance, following previous roles at Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, and Ferrari. So far, Williams has shown promising progress, sitting fifth in the Constructors’ Championship after 14 races and three Sprint events.
Addressing the team‘s performance, Sainz told Racer:
“My hopes were that Williams would be a solid midfield car in ’25 that allowed me to fight for points and not be at the back end of the grid. Just somewhere around the top 10 that I could still have fun playing around for points – which might sound stupid, but it’s still better and it’s a lot more something to go for than fighting for P16, P17, where 24 races like that can get frustrating for a driver.”
“And then the other hopes were still TBC, which is ’26, ’27, ’28. Where can Williams get to? And my feeling and my hope is that we can be championship contenders in the late part of the years that I just mentioned. Part of it we know and it’s been more than achieved, which is we are a very solid midfield car. The rest is the TBC of the hopes.”
Williams’ Current Standing and Challenges in the Midfield
Williams currently holds fifth place in the Constructors’ standings with 70 points, comfortably ahead of sixth-placed Aston Martin by 18 points. However, the team trails the fourth-placed Red Bull by a significant 124 points, highlighting the wide gap separating the top four teams from the rest of the grid. Despite the solid midfield position, Williams still faces a substantial challenge to close this gap.
Carlos Sainz’s 2025 Performance Compared to Teammate Alex Albon
While Williams has secured a strong standing as a midfield contender this season, Carlos Sainz has struggled to match the pace of teammate Alex Albon. Sainz is currently ranked 16th in the drivers’ championship with 16 points, lagging behind Albon, who stands 8th with 54 points after 14 races and three Sprints.
The adaptions required to drive Williams’ new car, designed around Albon’s driving style and powered by a Mercedes engine, have posed difficulties for Sainz. His best finishes have been eighth place in Saudi Arabia and Italy, though he has also experienced two race retirements.
Implications for Williams and Sainz’s Goals Beyond 2025
The progress Williams has made in becoming a reliable midfield team provides a foundation for Sainz’s longer-term ambition of contending for championships in the subsequent seasons of 2026, 2027, and 2028. Achieving a top-10 performance this season validates the team’s efforts, but closing in on the leading teams will require sustained development.
For Carlos Sainz, navigating the learning curve with Williams and overcoming early setbacks will be crucial in realizing his hopes of fighting at the sharp end of the field. The evolving competition among midfield teams makes the 2025 season a defining period for both the driver and his British team as they aim to turn solid groundwork into genuine title contention.
