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Carlos Sainz has shared a humbling prediction ahead of the 2025 F1 season that bridging the gap between the midfield and the frontrunners might not happen this year. The Spaniard has joined the Grove-based team this season after spending the last four years at Ferrari and consistently fighting at the front of the grid.
The driver was caught on the wrong foot last season when it was announced that Lewis Hamilton would be driving for Ferrari, and it meant that the Spaniard faced an uncertain future ahead of him. After talking to multiple teams ranging from Red Bull and Mercedes at the sharp end of the grid to Sauber at the back, Sainz finally took the call to join Williams.
Unlike his former team Ferrari, Williams is not in a position to challenge for race wins just yet. Carlos Sainz is well aware of that, and hence when he was questioned if he could potentially score a podium this season, the driver did not appear too confident. Pointing out that the gap between the top four and the chasing gap is significant and hence getting a podium would be hard, the Spaniard told media, including PlanetF1:
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"It would be a surprise. I think you guys have seen and heard us already talk about this year, and we’ve talked about it as a bit of a transition year, a preparation year to get ready for the opportunities that ’26 might bring."
He added:
“To bridge that gap from the midfield, where Williams was last year to top four teams, even though that gap is smaller than ever because you could see in qualifying at times last year there were not more than three or four-tenths among the top teams and the midfield teams, those three or four-tenths are very difficult to find in this budget cap, very constrained regulations era."
A fight for top 10 seems more realistic for Williams, according to Carlos Sainz
Talking about a more realistic expectation from the season, Carlos Sainz said that the battle for the top 10 is going to be hard, but that's where the team would realistically find itself. Williams is coming into the season on the back of finishing P9 in the championship last season, and hence a jump to consistently fighting for the top 10 was a more realistic target for Sainz. He said:
“So I think it’s going to be a challenge to even get into, I think, top 10 positions with the competition there was last year in this part of the field. So I’m ready for those fights and see what comes. If then a podium comes in the season we will more than welcome it, but I’m not expecting to go into the first race fighting for podiums or even top fives.”
It's going to be a tough season for Carlos Sainz at Williams considering the fact that the driver is not in a position to fight for the results he consistently used to with Ferrari in the last four years.
