Carlos Sainz secures future in Formula 1 with multi-year contract at Williams until 2027
After signing the renewal with Alexander Albon, the Williams Formula 1 team announced, on August 19, 2026, the extension of the relationship with Carlos Sainz, confirming the pair of drivers also for the 2027 season. The new agreement with the Spaniard is multi-year in nature, however, the British team did not disclose the specific period of the contract in its official statement.
“I am very happy to announce that I will continue my journey with the Williams family! I sincerely believe in the people who make up this team, both in the factory and on the tracks, and in the investments and hard work that are being carried out behind the scenes. We have everything it takes to turn things around together,” said the 31-year-old Spanish driver. He added: “I’m as committed as I was on day one to helping Williams get back to where it belongs, and I’m looking forward to creating more memories with the team.”
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Sainz has already won 244 Grands Prix in Formula 1, having arrived at Williams in 2025 to fill the vacancy left by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. To date, the Spaniard has participated in 34 races with the Grove team. His best performance remains the podium achieved at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last year, where he achieved third place, a result he repeated in the Qatar round.
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In 2025, Sainz took Logan Sargeant’s place in the English team; the American driver had only scored once in 35 GPs with the team. Son of two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz Sr., the Spaniard made history by becoming the first driver from his country to win in Formula 1 since Fernando Alonso, with his triumph at the 2022 British Grand Prix.
Sainz’s Formula 1 debut came in 2015 for STR (now known as Racing Bulls), after being promoted from the Red Bull Driver Academy. Despite a promising performance in the junior team, his early career was overshadowed by his teammate at the time, Max Verstappen, who was quickly called up to the main team the following year.
With no prospect of advancement in the structure of the Austrian team, Sainz made the transition to Renault in the last races of the 2017 World Championship, although without much prominence. In 2019, the Spaniard joined McLaren, where he achieved his first podium with a third place in the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix and, in 2020, he was runner-up in Pierre Gasly’s historic victory at Monza.
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In 2021, Sainz was announced as Sebastian Vettel’s replacement at Ferrari. With the Italian team, he achieved 25 podiums and the four victories of his career up to that point. His last victory for Ferrari, at the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, remained Maranello’s last triumph until Lewis Hamilton ended his fast in Barcelona in the current season.
Alongside Albon at Williams in 2025, Sainz contributed to the English team achieving its best result in Formula 1 since 2016, finishing fifth in the constructors’ championship. That season, the Thai driver finished eighth in the general classification, while the Spaniard was in ninth place.
