The Carlos Sainz saga came to an end when he announced his move to Williams midway into the 2024 campaign. But with Netflix’s Drive to Survive providing behind-the-scenes access into the weeks of contract negotiations and discussions, fresh new perspectives have come out.
In the weeks following Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move becoming official, two things became clear. First—the obvious one—Sainz would be sacrificed. Second, and more surprisingly, none of the top teams had a place for him. McLaren’s lineup was locked in for the long run, while Mercedes and Red Bull, despite having openings, chose to go in a different direction.
So, Sainz was left to choose between Sauber, Alpine, and Williams. And Williams’ Team Principal James Vowles was absolutely desperate to get him on board.
As revealed in Episode 4 of Season 7 of Drive to Survive, Vowles had all but secured his signing, which was set to be announced in Spain. Celebrations were planned, and preparations were complete—only for Sainz to not show up.
Vowles was waiting at the Williams team hotel, anxiously checking his watch. Little did he know, however, that Sainz was deep in conversation with another man in the paddock—an enterprising figure named Flavio Briatore, who had just rejoined Alpine as an executive advisor.
“Flavio called me,” Sainz revealed with a laugh, justifying his absence.
“Alpine started to become more appealing since Flavio Briatore arrived to the team. He’s being extremely convincing or extremely insisting in me trying to join the project,” he added. Even Pierre Gasly approached Sainz’s former teammate Charles Leclerc to insist that he would have loved to partner up with the Madrid-born driver in 2025.
Sainz was a very sought-after driver, and there wouldn’t be a lot of teams that would reject the idea of signing him. But Briatore, being his shrewd self, took time to evaluate Sainz, something that ended up working in Vowles’ favor.
The Briton, however, was not going to sit back and do nothing. He called up Carlos Oñoro Sainz, the then-Ferrari driver’s cousin brother and manager, to inquire what Briatore had offered him that he couldn’t.
Oñoro didn’t commit to a date and instead told Vowles that it could take his brother a couple of weeks to make a final decision. Thankfully for Vowles, it went his way.
Sainz went with his intuition and turned back to Williams, fully aligning himself with Vowles’ long-term vision of taking the team back to the very top of F1. Briatore, meanwhile, ended up signing Jack Doohan — a rookie — to partner up with Gasly.
