Lewis Hamilton’s impending move to Ferrari in 2025 became official earlier this year in February. Ever since the announcement, speculations were running wild about Carlos Sainz’s next destination. To begin with, the Spaniard had several options available at his disposal. That was until he had no option but to sign with Williams.
The announcement only came a few weeks ago and its looming nature made F1 presenter Will Buxton “sick.” Buxton spoke about the move in a recent video uploaded by Formula 1 on their official YouTube channel.
In his conversation with fellow presenters Lawrence Barretto and Jolyon Palmer, Buxton put the move into the second from the bottom tier- Far from good. The tiers above were Good from afar, Highlights Worthy, Legendary, and GOAT. Justifying his low rating for Sainz’s move, Buxton said,
“…the reason I’m putting it in ‘Far from good’ is because it dragged on so blo*** long! It was supposed to be announced in Barcelona and then it wasn’t because he was going to Alpine or was it going to be Audi. All of these options kept getting scratched off. And the Mercedes and Red Bull, and all of this, it just was desperation because everything was disappearing for him.”
BREAKING: Carlos Sainz to join Williams in 2025, on a multi-year deal!#F1 pic.twitter.com/tlmWWICxcf
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) July 29, 2024
Buxton clarified that he was a fan of the move as Williams will have a formidable driver lineup in 2025. He lauded James Vowles for landing two strong drivers in Sainz and Alex Albon. “But god, I was just sick of it by the end,” Buxton concluded.
Barretto put the move in the same category as his fellow presenter. The reason again was the same, as Barretto too felt the negotiations dragged on for too long. Palmer echoed a similar sentiment and dubbed a move to Red Bull more appropriate for Sainz.
Vowles’ persistent chase of Sainz paid off
The panelists unanimously hailed Williams’ 2025 driver lineup as one of the strongest. They also hailed Vowles for pulling off the move which would be a massive boost for the team.
Vowles’ relentless chase of Sainz is no secret simply because of how outspoken and enthusiastic he was about adding the Spaniard to his team’s ranks. The former Mercedes Strategy Chief openly dubbed the Ferrari driver his top target for Logan Sargeant’s seat for the 2025 season.
Not only is Sainz’s signing a testament to Vowles’ persistence but it also is an indictment of Alpine and Audi’s F1 projects. On the one hand, the French team failed to convince Sainz to join them despite a promise to trade their power units for Mercedes’.
Audi, on the other hand, announced the arrival of the likes of Mattia Binotto. Despite that, Sainz chose Williams.
