Carlos Sainz put rumors about his future to rest when he announced he would join Williams in 2025. However, there were vacancies at Red Bull and Mercedes at one point this season; both top teams who would have helped him fight at the front. Lando Norris thought Sainz should have done just that as he singled out Red Bull as the team his former partner should have joined.
Norris told Sky Sports,
“He should have gone to Red Bull, potentially.”
Norris was happy to know that his former McLaren teammate would continue in F1 but was surprised that bigger teams were not very interested. He called the 29-year-old one of the best drivers in F1 and felt that he proved his talent in the front of the grid for several years to justify that.
: Lando Norris thinks Carlos Sainz should have signed with Red Bull instead of Williams. Despite his bias, Norris believes Sainz, his former teammate, and friend, deserves a top spot due to his proven talent in F1.#F1 pic.twitter.com/5Dv62G2d6N
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) August 2, 2024
Norris also took a subtle dig at Sergio Perez. He mentioned that he knew Sainz was better than the Mexican and was well aware of his capabilities as a driver.
Nonetheless, Norris is happy about the upcoming driver partnership between Sainz and Alex Albon at Williams. The Grove-based outfit is ecstatic to have gotten Sainz’s signature. And just like Norris, their Team Principal James Vowles doesn’t understand how bigger teams didn’t go after Sainz.
A surprisingly low interest in the outgoing Ferrari driver
Sainz joined Ferrari in 2021 and went through a tricky phase with the Maranello-based squad’s rebuilding era coinciding with his arrival. Once Fred Vasseur took over in 2023, the team became more dependable and Sainz showcased his abilities when he became the only non-Red Bull race winner of the 2023 season.
Es lo mas bonito que le ha hecho un equipo a Carlos Sainz desde McLaren.
SOY MUY DE WILLIAMS️
pic.twitter.com/llzm4QGXMx— Juaggi | WdC (@JuaggiF1) July 31, 2024
Sainz won again in 2024, but that wasn’t enough for big teams to be interested in him. Mercedes and Red Bull never looked at him as a serious option and had other drivers placed as priority.
Williams, however, believed in him. Sainz had to choose between the British stable, Audi and Alpine, and he chose the first. He insisted that he believed in Vowles’ project to take the team back to the front of the grid.
For Williams too, it is a huge deal as Sainz and Albon’s pairing could potentially do wonders for them.
