How Carlos Sainz bounced back from the most difficult moment of his F1 career

Baku can never be just another place for Carlos Sainz. When we spoke to him on the eve of the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix last week, the Spaniard had only just arrived in the city and his thoughts inevitably went back to 12 months ago, having claimed his first podium with Williams.

It remains one of the moments he still considers among the best of his career, but in 2026 Sainz arrived in Baku after a difficult few months, during which the FW48 has not allowed him to achieve the results he had hoped for.

And yet, from a personal point of view, his perception is almost the opposite: at 32, he feels he is close to the peak of his career and driving at a very high level. It is precisely this contrast, between how he feels behind the wheel and the lack of results, that has made this period particularly frustrating.

MS: Carlos, how are you?

Carlos Sainz: “I’m good. I arrived yesterday for the race weekend. It’s a place that brings back a lot of great memories from last year, from my first podium with Williams. It was probably one of the best moments of my career, so Baku is now an important place for me.”

What kind of moment is this in your life and in your career?

“It’s a particular moment because, in terms of my own performance, I feel like I’m having a good year. I’m 32 and I think I’m close to the peak of my career. I feel like I’m driving quite well this year, but at the same time it has been a very frustrating season, with a lot of problems with the car that have prevented us from achieving good results.

“In a way, I feel like it is becoming a bit of a lost year in my career because we are not managing to reach the targets we had set ourselves. I hope it can simply be a strange year and that next season we can find ourselves in a better position.”

You joined Williams in 2025, but before that you raced for Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren and Ferrari. What do you think you have brought to this team, and how much has Williams changed since you arrived?

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

“First of all, I brought my experience and my speed as a driver. After 12 years in Formula 1, I think more or less everyone knows what my strengths are. But above all, I think I have brought experience and a certain way of working, trying to help this team improve.

“I have had the chance to experience top teams such as Ferrari, so I can give Williams a reference for where a top team is today and what is needed to reach that level.

“The positive thing is that we also have James Vowles, who comes from Mercedes, and Alex [Albon], who has experienced the Red Bull environment. There are three or four important figures within the team who know how a top team works. We are trying to bring Williams back to that level in the future.”

You have decided to commit your future to Williams. Beyond the technical reasons, what have you seen in the people within this team that convinced you to keep believing in the project?

“There are two main reasons. The first is that I trust the project, the people and the medium- to long-term vision within the team. It is true that this year has been very disappointing, a season nobody expected. It has also shown us how much we still need to improve and that we are probably further away than we thought.

“Last year it was almost the opposite: we achieved results that were even better than expected. This year, instead, has been much more difficult. The second reason is that I have felt at home from the very first moment I arrived. At Williams, I have felt that people really listen to me, and for me as a driver that is fundamental. I want to feel that when I speak, people listen and that certain things can move in the direction I suggest.

“So far, that is exactly what has happened here. Some of the best years of my career were at McLaren, and also some of my years at Ferrari. At McLaren, for example, I felt in a very similar way to how I feel now at Williams. And I think a driver is able to perform at his best when he finds himself in that kind of environment.”

Sainz at McLaren in 2019

Photo by: McLaren

You have often described yourself as a very rational person. But is there also a Carlos Sainz who struggles to leave a bad day at the track behind him?

“Definitely. I’m the first one who, when I go to bed after a day in which things have not gone well, suffers thinking about the mistakes that were made. But experience has given me something very important: the understanding that the world does not end there. We have all had good weekends and bad weekends. Life goes on, and a driver’s value does not suddenly decrease because of one bad race.

“With experience, you learn how to manage those situations mentally. You know it is only one race, and maybe at the next one you finish on the podium in Baku, everyone forgets what happened before and suddenly you are seen as a different driver. Experience helps massively in that respect.”

What has been the most difficult moment of your career?

“Definitely the months after finding out that I would be leaving Ferrari. Honestly, I thought I was going to stay there for a long time. We had come through four good years in which I think Charles [Leclerc] and I had done a good job together, and the team was moving in the right direction.

“I never expected to leave Ferrari, but that situation happened and I needed two or three months to find myself again, understand how I wanted to continue my career and what my next objective would be.

“They were difficult months, but I think it was precisely because of that difficulty that I probably found the best form of my career afterwards. I won in Australia, achieved podiums and I think I had a very strong 2024 season.”

And what has been the best moment?

“I have so many great memories from my years at McLaren. I really enjoyed driving for that team and achieving my first podiums there.

“Then there were the wins with Ferrari. It is impossible to describe what a driver feels when he wins the first races of his career. And I think the way those four victories came makes every one of them special.

“Then there was the podium with Williams. I had taken my gamble by choosing this team and maybe some people thought I was crazy. Then we achieved three podiums towards the end of the season and everything seemed to be moving in the perfect direction.

“That is exactly why this year has been difficult to understand. It has been a really complicated season.”

Baku 2025

Photo by: Alexander Nemenov / AFP via Getty Images

You carry a very important surname in motorsport. Was there ever a time when being a Sainz felt more like a burden than a privilege?

“Yes, definitely during my first years in karting. At that time, I felt that the weight of my surname was greater than the advantages it could bring me. When I was young, I felt that pressure a lot. I could see it and I could feel that I was not being treated in the same way because of who my father was.

“There were some very difficult situations that I don’t want to talk about now, but between the ages of 11 and 14, while I was karting, I went through some bad moments. Maybe one day I will talk about them in a biography. I definitely felt the pressure, and I saw some people behave badly towards a 12- or 13-year-old boy. I did not like that.”

If you could meet the 15- or 16-year-old Carlos today, would you tell him it was all worth it? Is there anything from the life of a ‘normal’ teenager that you feel you missed out on?

“I would definitely tell him that it was worth it. I never really had a moment in which I questioned whether everything I was doing was worth the sacrifice, because I always enjoyed it.

“Driving, going to races, competing — it was always my dream. Even when I missed out on some of the normal experiences a 16-year-old might have, I never saw it as a sacrifice. I simply thought I was doing what I wanted to do.

“Of course, there were moments of tension and pressure, moments when I didn’t know whether I would make it to Formula 1 or whether I would really become a Formula 1 driver.

“To that boy who had doubts about whether he would one day make it here, or even win races in Formula 1, I would tell him not to worry. He will make it. And he will probably have an even better career than he ever imagined.”

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