13-time Formula 1 race winner David Coulthard has hinted that Carlos Sainz may be ‘eyeballing’ moving away from Williams.
Sainz arrived at Williams in 2025 following Ferrari’s blockbuster signing of Lewis Hamilton, sending the Spaniard from the front of the grid to the midfield.
While he has thrived at the team, helping to transform its on-track fortunes last season, 2026 has presented a new challenge.
The FW48 is not as competitive as its predecessor, leaving Sainz feeling frustrated at points in the first half of the season.
Coulthard has spoken of seeing both Sainz and Albon visibly frustrated with both performance and execution.
“You can see the frustration for the drivers, visibly, I guess a bit more for Alex, who has now just celebrated being the most racy driver for Williams – that probably doesn’t make sense in English. I am Scottish after all. He’s done more grands prix than any other driver for the Williams team,” Coulthard said on the Up to Speed podcast.
Carlos Sainz looking elsewhere?
Coulthard then hinted that Albon is not as likely to jump ship as Sainz, labelling him “part of the DNA” of Williams.
However, he believes Sainz, given his competitive nature could be on the lookout for a new drive.
“So he’s embedded in that team. He’s part of the DNA and has consistently delivered. So, I guess his frustration level will be higher than Carlos, who, let’s be frank, he’s definitely eyeballing where his next opportunity lies because he’s gone from Ferrari winning grands prix to Williams being happy scoring points.
“He wants to be back there again. And that journey for Williams is going to take a few years. So, I think we’ve got to give credit for the progress, but of course, it’s Williams and that name in itself, we expect more.”
Sainz has admitted that car performance tested his patience at the start of the year, but has reaffirmed his commitment to Williams in Monaco.
“I think we’ve made it mutual across one another that the ideal scenario and the ideal path moving forward for me has always been Williams and has always been seeing the progress of this team and continuing to help this team become a competitive team,” Sainz said to media, including Motorsport Week in Monaco.
“I know I obviously need to take a decision this year about my future but at the same time, I made it very clear to Williams and to my management team that my priority is to make this project work. When I did the commitment a couple of years ago to come here, it was with the commitment of trying to make this work and I wish we can do that.
“Obviously this year we’ve hit a bit of a big bump that we didn’t expect and now all my attention and focus is to try and get this team out of the bump as soon as possible.
“I think we were maybe looking [at] about 2029 podiums consistently, and the 2030 the win. I knew there was not going to be any winning in Williams until at least ’28, ’29, ’30. It is true that we’ve just been through a pretty big bump in the road to recovery.
“I’m committed to try and help the team get out of this bump and do the best we can to recover. I just want to be winning in F1, that’s my main message to my management and at the same time help Williams get back to the top.”
His resolve will continue to be tested however as the team grapples to improve the FW48.
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