F1 race winner suffers blow as £981m-valued team know they ‘won’t be ready’ to challenge for victories in 2026

After the Spanish Grand Prix, nine constructors might be wondering if they should turn their full attention to next season.

McLaren are dominating the constructors’ championship and Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris appear to be the overwhelming favourites to battle it out to win their maiden driver’s title.

Red Bull hoped F1’s new front-wing rules would hamper McLaren, but Piastri put those doubts to bed with a scintillating pole position lap.

However, several teams have already been fully focused on F1’s 2026 regulations which represent one of the biggest changes to the sport’s ruleset in its 75-year history.

The likes of Sauber, soon-to-be Audi, Aston Martin and Alpine are languishing at the bottom of the team standings and might be wise to start concentrating on next year’s car.

There’s also Cadillac who can use all their resources to develop their first Formula 1 car and it’s yet to be seen where that will place them in the pecking order.

One team who have made it clear for some time that 2026 is their main focus is Williams.

James Vowles’ team have enjoyed a fantastic start to the season but Carlos Sainz has warned that he still doesn’t expect to be challenging for victories next season.

READ MORE: Williams star Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height

Carlos Sainz says Williams ‘won’t be ready’ to be a top F1 team in 2026

The four-time race winner was speaking to Motorsport and asked how long it would take the £981m-valued F1 team to be a ‘top team’ again.

“I think we won’t be ready next year,” Sainz replied.

“It would be great to take another step forward because it would mean being with the top teams, but the experience at Ferrari also helped me understand that being in the group is one thing, but beating the top teams is another thing.

“This season we are having a first taste, in some qualifying, we were able to compete on equal terms with Mercedes and Ferrari, and it was not at all a given that we would find ourselves in those positions.

“Then we made some mistakes that cost us a lot of points, and this confirms that the growth of a team does not only come through the performance of the car, the team also has to grow in all its aspects, and I believe that James Vowles is the ideal person for this task.

“I think we can do it, so in some ways, it’s better to expect some mistakes during this season as we don’t yet have a car that can allow us to compete for the top goals.”

READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties

How Carlos Sainz’s first season at Williams compares to Alex Albon

One of the most anticipated intra-team battles this season was at Williams.

Alex Albon spent years coming up against teammates who were never quite on his level, but Sainz presented a very different challenge.

The Thai driver is having one of his best seasons in Formula 1 to date and is currently the best of the rest in the drivers’ championship with 42 points.

Sainz currently only sits on 12 points, but that doesn’t tell the full story.

The Spaniard’s best performance came at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix where he was required to control his pace to keep Albon in his DRS to avoid being overtaken by Isack Hadjar.

Albon is only 5-4 up in qualifying this year, and while Sainz struggled at the start of his Williams spell, he’s quickly getting up to speed.

Overcoming a 30-point deficit won’t be easy but Sainz will hope to end the season as Williams’ number one driver.

Both drivers will then have to play a waiting game until Williams are ready to challenge for victories once again.