Sainz signs new Williams deal
Carlos Sainz has signed a new multi-year contract with Williams, the Formula One team announced on Wednesday, securing his future with the British outfit and completing its driver line-up for 2027 alongside Alex Albon.
The 31-year-old Spaniard, a four-time race winner, joined Williams in 2025 after signing a two-year deal with options to extend in July 2024, following his departure from Ferrari. His current deal was ending at the end of this season, prompting speculation about his future, with the driver linked to moves to Red Bull and Alpine.
The announcement comes a day after Thai-British driver Albon, 30, extended his stay with the team with a new one-year contract until the end of the 2027 season. Together, the pair form one of the most experienced driver line-ups on the Formula One grid, with more than 370 Grand Prix starts and 31 podium finishes between them.
In a statement, Sainz said: "I truly believe in the people that form this team, both at the factory and at the racetracks, and the investments and hard work that are happening in the background. We have what it takes to turn this around together. I'm as committed as I was on day one to helping get Williams back to where it belongs, and I look forward to creating more memories with the team."
Team principal's backing
Team principal James Vowles welcomed the extension, saying: "Carlos' talent behind the steering wheel and dedication back at the factory have been extremely valuable for this project - working day in, day out with his engineers to find every millisecond. He is a leader of this team, and I'm thrilled that he can see what's possible as we continue to rebuild it."
Sainz had picked Williams for 2025 over an opportunity to become the focus of the Audi team, which made its debut this year after buying the Swiss Sauber outfit. He was pleasantly surprised by the team's form in 2025, during which he claimed two podiums, but he has been less than impressed by their subsequent regression.
Vowles had targeted this season as the time Williams would make a significant step. The team finished fifth in the constructors' championship this season, progress that was ahead of schedule, but their new car was late and overweight at the start of the season. The team are currently ninth of the 11 teams at the halfway point of the 2026 season.
Vowles has said the stress of producing an all-new car to the revised 2026 rules had tested the factory beyond its limits. But he believed subsequent changes had put the team in a better place for the future and was delighted with Sainz's extension.
Difficult season continues
Days after the much-needed boost of Sainz and Albon committing to the Grove-based outfit for 2027, Williams endured another disheartening weekend in Zandvoort as they failed to score points for a sixth consecutive round.
However, that wasn't always a foregone conclusion – Albon battled his way into top-10 contention before an unsuccessful strategy call and contact with Sainz, which came when the latter locked up and dragged the other car with him, led to his retirement.
Summarising how he felt after causing the incident, Sainz said: "We've been scrapping for P15/P16 all weekend. The situation in the race put Alex on a fresher medium behind. I was struggling a lot already with my hard tyres towards the end of the race. All of a sudden when I went to defend, a big bump in the braking into Turn 1 surprised me. I triggered a massive front lock and with that one thing, obviously I took Alex with me, which is the last thing you want to do with a team mate."
He went on to declare that they never had enough pace to fight for points, which was made more disappointing by the fact that their rivals at Audi and Aston Martin both scored as a result of strong performances by Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso.
Contrastingly, Albon disagreed and implied that the Dutch Grand Prix represented a missed opportunity for the squad, but didn't seem too upset with his team mate for cutting his race short. "It happens," he concluded. "It's not good for the team – obviously we apologised to the team, but it's not a Verstappen-Ricciardo Baku situation."
Albon also suggested that strategy played a part, saying they pitted too early on the first stop and came out behind a train of seven cars, and that if they had stayed out longer they could have overcut the group.
The Formula One season resumes after a summer break with this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, the 12th round of the championship, before the Italian Grand Prix at Monza two weeks later.