(Motorsport-Total.com) – Team principal James Vowles recently emphasized that Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz still believe in the Williams project despite the current crisis. “They want to be part of this journey,” said Vowles. However, expert David Coulthard only partially buys into that.
Read more Expert: Carlos Sainz is already looking for alternatives to Williams
“You can clearly see the frustration of the drivers,” said Coulthard, who himself drove for Williams during his career, in the podcast Up To Speed. Williams finished the 2025 season at the top of the midfield but initially fell back in 2026.
Having ended last year in 5th place in the constructors’ championship, they are currently only in eighth place. Coulthard therefore makes it clear that both drivers cannot be happy with the development this season.
About Albon, who has been driving for Williams since 2022, he says: “He is firmly anchored in this team. He is part of the DNA and has always delivered good performances. I therefore suspect that his frustration will be greater than Carlos’s.”
Sainz, on the other hand, only joined the team in 2025 and is therefore not as deeply rooted in Grove as Albon. Coulthard therefore suspects that the Spaniard “is definitely already looking for his next opportunity.”
“He moved from Ferrari, where he won Grands Prix, to Williams, where he is already happy to score points,” said Coulthard, who clarifies: “He wants to return there. And that path will take Williams several more years.”
Read more Expert: Carlos Sainz is already looking for alternatives to Williams
No Williams successes in sight in the short term?
In fact, team principal Vowles recently stated that Williams wants to compete for the world championship “around” 2030 again. Sainz would then already be 36, which is why Coulthard is not sure if the Spaniard will really have that much patience.
Sainz’s current Williams contract runs out at the end of the season. However, he himself described it last year as his “life project” to help lead the racing team back to the top.
The contract durations of current Formula 1 drivers
Williams missed the shakedown in Barcelona at the beginning of the year and started the 2026 season, among other things, with a significantly overweight car. Recently, however, the racing team has made progress and scored points in three consecutive races in Miami, Canada, and Monaco.
“We have to acknowledge the progress, but this is Williams, and just because of the name, we expect more,” Coulthard makes clear. The Scot drove for the team in 1994 and 1995, a time when Williams was one of the absolute top addresses in Formula 1.
However, the last two world championships in the 1997 season are now almost 30 years ago.
Read more Expert: Carlos Sainz is already looking for alternatives to Williams