Guenther Steiner questions Carlos Sainz’s Williams call as Sauber surge in F1 2025

Former Haas boss Guenther Steiner has suggested Carlos Sainz will now regret choosing Williams over Sauber amid the latter’s resurgence in F1 2025.

Sainz was a key player in the driver market last year after losing his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton.

The Spaniard had to choose between Williams or Sauber, with Alpine in the frame.

Sainz opted for Williams, buoyed by their progress under team boss James Vowles.

Many expect Sainz to join Sauber, given that they will become Audi in 2026.

However, Sauber slumped to last in the constructors’ standings last year, scoring points in just one race.

While Williams sit ahead of Sauber in the current standings, the Swiss-based team scored their first podium since 2012 at Silverstone with Nico Hulkenberg.

Under Jonathan Wheatley’s leadership, Sauber has been transformed operationally and are performing like a credible midfield outfit.

Steiner thinks that Sainz will regret not signing for Sauber/Audi.

“Gas [which means yes],” he said on the The Red Flags Podcast. “But, not only because of the performance, [but] also because he was driving at Ferrari when Mattia [Binotto] was there.

“And I think he, in general, is not having a good experience in the moment at Williams.

“I mean, he’s struggling a lot, and Carlos is a very good driver.

“So they had a very good beginning of the year, but mainly with Albon and not with Carlos. Carlos never had any really good results.

“So, obviously, a little bit of frustration will have set in. And thinking back, I said, I should have gone with Audi. But hey, you make the decision, you live by your choices.”

Sainz overlooked by Mercedes

Sainz was forced to drop down the grid after Mercedes and Red Bull overlooked him.

Mercedes considered him as a possible Lewis Hamilton replacement before giving academy prospect Kimi Antonelli a chance.

Speaking on The High Performance podcast, Sainz shed light on his talks with Mercedes.

“Not really. We spoke a lot with Toto and everyone else at the time and I was certainly one of the options that was considered. But how close was I? You can ask Toto that.

“But I think he is very happy with Kimi Antonelli.”