Carlos Sainz announced that Williams would be his new team from 2025 onwards, which disappointed many as he would be leaving a top team (Ferrari) for one that struggled to score points. However, Williams’ staff were ecstatic when the news first broke out.
Team Principal James Vowles revealed the news of Sainz’s signing in their Grove base via a video. He told F1 media,
“We played the team a video of Carlos announcing the news and you could not hear a word of it for at least the first 45 seconds because of the cheers, the shouts, the clapping.”
Very happy to announce I’ll be joining @WilliamsRacing next season! Excited about the project and the challenges ahead of us!
Muy contento de poder anunciar que el año que viene me uniré a @WilliamsRacing! Entusiasmado con el proyecto y con los retos que tendremos por… pic.twitter.com/oUg5IexunR
— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) July 29, 2024
At Ferrari, Sainz drove for podium places and sometimes wins, for the last four years. Before that, he was at McLaren, another team that gave him a chance to compete at the front. From 2025 onwards, however, Sainz will have to fight his battles at the back end of the grid.
At the same time, Williams’ history is glittering, which attracts Sainz. He admits to being excited about the idea of leading them back to its glory days.
In the 90s, Williams dominated the F1 grid, winning World Championships, and Vowles vowed to take them back there. For that, they signed top engineers from different teams and completed a strong driver lineup involving Sainz and Alex Albon for 2025 and beyond.
Vowles Fought a “Fierce” Battle to Sign Sainz
Sainz was one of the most sought-after drivers in 2024, with multiple teams rumored to be interested in securing his services. There were big teams like Mercedes and Red Bull also linked to the Madrid-born driver. However, they moved on to talents that would suit their needs.
It was up to Sainz to choose a team for 2025, and Williams was one of the options. Vowles started his pursuit for Sainz in 2023, and after making the latter’s signing official, he revealed how difficult the whole ordeal was.
“We had to fight against fierce competition, near enough the whole pit lane wanted to sign him, and it’s therefore a pleasure. I can’t express how thankful I am that he’s here with us as a result of it.”
According to reports, there was a lot of back and forth with multiple teams involved from Sainz’s side. Yet, Williams ticked all the boxes and Vowles had to fight hard to get the deal done.
