The Spaniard compares his current Williams with the 2015 and 2016 Toro Rosso, and assures that those cars were better. With only six points in 14 races, he hopes that the Baku update confirms the wind tunnel correlation.
Carlos Sainz has had no qualms when expressing his frustration with the Williams FW48. The Spanish driver who arrived in Formula 1 in 2015 with Toro Rosso and has been through Renault, McLaren and Ferrari, has described the 2026 car as the worst he has driven in his entire career, a blunt statement that reflects the magnitude of the crisis that the British team is going through this season.
"It really annoys me that the Madrid Grand Prix has perhaps come in the year in which I have the worst car I've ever had, which is 2026" Sainz stated. The comparison with his beginnings in the category was even more revealing: "Even in 2015 and 2016 I had a better weapon" assured the Madrid native making it clear that the Toro Rosso of his first years, with which he debuted more than a decade ago, offered better performance than the current Williams.
When asked about the virtues of the FW48 Sainz was blunt: "Not much this year". The Spaniard explained that the car does not stand out in any aspect and that this completely conditions his performance.
"That's why we are so disappointed with the car's performance because it has no strength and has many weaknesses. That means you don't arrive at any circuit hoping for a miracle, because you know you don't have any particularly strong point" Carlos Sainz detailed.
The numbers back up his diagnosis: Sainz has barely six points in 14 races and occupies sixteenth place in the championship, with only three results inside the top ten. A very poor harvest for a driver who has demonstrated his talent in multiple teams and who aspired to lead the resurgence of Williams after his signing in 2025.
The update that could change the panorama arrived at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Williams debuted in Baku an important upgrade package for the FW48, and to check whether the improvements developed at the Grove factory also worked on the asphalt; for Sainz, the key will not be solely in gaining a few tenths of performance, but in verifying that there is a good correlation between the tools used by the team and the real behavior of the car.
"What matters to me now is the Baku upgrade, seeing if it works and gives us what we expect. Above all we need to check that the wind tunnel correlation is correct and that the update works as it should" Sainz explained. The result of that work will also be important thinking about the next project, Williams already has its sights set on 2027 and any positive confirmation about the functioning of its tools would allow it to face with greater confidence the development of the future car: "That will allow us to trust that everything we are doing with next year's car will transfer to the track, which is the most important thing" he sustained.
The Spaniard assumes that the close of 2026 will be complicated but hopes that the work done during this season will allow completely changing the panorama next year: "I know that 2026 is going to be hard so I would ask that during those first nine months of 2027 before turning 33 they give me again a car that allows me to enjoy Formula 1 and fight for more important things than those we are fighting for this year" he expressed and left a final reflection that summarizes his expectations: "As long as everything gets fixed next year, we'll quickly forget about 2026".
