The future of Carlos Sainz at Williams seems increasingly uncertain, to the point that Sergio Pérez would already have started discussions with the British team for the 2027 season.
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Williams had made a nice move by convincing Sainz to join the team after his contract was not renewed at Ferrari, despite interest from Alpine and Audi.
However, his contract initially only bound him for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, although options allow extending the agreement until 2028.
Sainz on the market
The difficulties encountered by Williams under the new 2026 regulations would however have pushed the Spaniard to explore other possibilities. According to several reports, Sainz would be particularly interested in Aston Martin, if Fernando Alonso were to leave the team, or in a return to Alpine, in the event that the French team decided to replace Franco Colapinto.
This situation would have opened the door to Sergio Pérez. According to Autosport, the Mexican is now among the main players in the driver market for 2027, behind Alonso and Sainz, while Max Verstappen is expected to remain at Red Bull.
Contrary to initial reports that Pérez had signed a multi-year contract with Cadillac, it now seems that his commitment only covers the 2026 season. He would therefore be free to leave the American team without compensation to join another team as of 2027.
Ongoing talks
His representatives would have already started negotiations with Williams. Team principal James Vowles would welcome Pérez’s arrival, notably because of the significant financial contribution brought by his personal sponsors.
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The Mexican is known to attract such commercial support that his salary is entirely covered by his partners, who would even generate an additional profit for the team. An argument that would make Pérez a particularly attractive option for Williams.
Some rumors also indicate that Williams would be ready to offer a significant salary to Pérez in 2027, while a departure of Alex Albon at the end of the 2026 season would not be entirely excluded either: like Sainz, the Thai driver would be frustrated by the lack of competitiveness of the team. His seat could go to Colapinto if he were to be dropped by Alpine.
Old acquaintances
A possible pairing between Albon and Pérez would however reform a duo indirectly linked to Red Bull: the Mexican had replaced Albon within the Austrian team in 2021, before leaving the team at the end of 2024, spending the 2025 season without a seat, then joining Cadillac.
The two men had also clashed during the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. Pérez had attempted a particularly optimistic move on Albon at turn 13, causing the retirement of the Williams driver and receiving a five-second penalty.
At the time, James Vowles did not hide his anger: “We lost a lot of points. It’s frustrating when you fight for every point in the championship and lose them against a direct competitor, for no good reason.”
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