Should Verstappen worry about a new challenger? Rival hints at battles

Carlos Sainz was asked during the British Grand Prix what he thought about how this season is adding extra pressure on the team. Speaking to GPblog and others, he confirmed that is the case. "Yes, definitely. I think as a team, a more competitive car is for sure stressing a bit the system of the way we do things and the way we work."

That Sainz already had battles with the frontrunner teams can only be positive for next year. This would mean Williams could catch up to, among others, Red Bull and Verstappen as well. "It's given us a great opportunity to actually learn a lot of the things we might or we could learn next year with a more competitive car."

"But thanks to this much more competitive car this year that's already given us a bit of a heads up on everything that we need to improve and the margin of improvement that we have in so many areas if we want to fight the guys at the top so it's been a great test for the team," he explained.

While Sainz thus looks forward to next year and hopes to compete with, among others, Red Bull, it is not certain where Verstappen will be with the Austrian team next season.

The four-time world champion prefers to stay with Red Bull, but does have two key factors he takes into account when deciding about his future, with one of those being completed with the dismissal of Christian Horner. Read an overview of the situation here!