The US GP sprint race was a testament to Carlos Sainz’s race craft, which saw him carry Ferrari to the podium, with a P2 finish. With the Italian outfit seemingly finding its mojo again, the Spaniard is ready to capitalize on the momentum. One of the key reasons he’ll be eager to secure podium finishes and wins before the season ends is his upcoming switch in 2025.
Sainz will not race for Ferrari next season. The Maranello-based team decided to let him go by signing Lewis Hamilton and extending Charles Leclerc’s contract. That left Sainz looking for a new team to race for, and a number of teams were after his signature. Ultimately, he decided to join Williams.
The #55 driver was also reportedly in negotiations with Mercedes but their preference for Kimi Antonelli saw talks fall through. Red Bull was in the mix as well, until they decided to extend Sergio Perez’s contract.
BREAKING: Carlos Sainz to join Williams Racing from 2025#F1 pic.twitter.com/3O3ROhrEES
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 29, 2024
With two top teams (Mercedes and Red Bull) out of his reach, Sainz had only two options—Audi or Williams. Possessing the experience of winning multiple races, the Spaniard was undoubtedly a prime target for both teams but Team Principal James Vowles’ persuasion and Sauber’s dwindling fortunes saw him ultimately pick the Grove-based outfit.
Vowles played a risky hand, though. Weeks after signing Sainz, he revealed that he had no other driver on the pipeline with whom he could negotiate. This left him no option but to sign Sainz or face a terrible crisis before the start of the new season. Thankfully, his only target believed in his vision and put pen to paper.
Sainz not bitter about Ferrari picking Hamilton over him
Sainz joined Ferrari in 2021 and will have completed four years with the outfit by the end of the 2024 season. In these four years, he has won three race wins and established himself as one of the top drivers of the grid. Despite this, Ferrari decided to sign Hamilton for the upcoming season.
The deal was announced in February, while the team was still negotiating with Sainz for an extension. Some might consider it to be disrespectful, but Sainz has cleared that he was okay with the call. He cited Hamilton’s record-equaling seven world championships as the reason why he is clearly a better choice and does not mind losing his seat to the Briton.
“It is not a relationship that has broken down because we are not happy with each other, but because of a circumstantial cause,” Sainz said.
The Madrid-born driver also insisted that had Hamilton ‘not decided to end his career’ at Ferrari, he would have extended his stay with the team.
