Carlos Sainz has dismissed the summer’s Carlos Sainz Audi speculation outright, insisting he never seriously considered leaving Williams before signing a new Formula 1 contract for the 2027 season.
The Spaniard put his name to a fresh deal last week alongside team-mate Alex Albon, ending months of uncertainty over a line-up that team principal James Vowles had feared he might lose entirely. Media reports had linked Sainz with Audi for 2027, despite there being no obvious vacancy at Hinwil.
“No, it was just the usual paddock rumours,” Sainz told Motorsport.com in an exclusive interview. “I can confirm that this year I never seriously considered going anywhere else.”
Why the Carlos Sainz Audi link never had legs
Sainz has been here before. After losing his Ferrari seat ahead of 2025 he held talks with both Williams and the incoming Audi project, choosing Grove over Hinwil. This time, he says, loyalty settled it.
“When we put everything on the table, another aspect emerged that is very important to me: I’ve never liked leaving a team when it’s going through a difficult period,” he said. “It’s not in my character to go somewhere else if the situation has become worse since I joined the team.”
A contract signed at the low point
The FW48 has slipped down the order and has not scored a point in six rounds. Williams sits ninth in the constructors’ championship on 11 points, with Sainz 16th in the drivers’ standings on six and Albon 17th on five.
Unlike Albon, whose extension covers 2027 only, Sainz has signed what he calls a multi-year agreement — wording that in F1 often conceals team-held options rather than firm commitment. Asked whether that put him out of reach of the front-runners, he was notably elusive.
