Carlos Sainz sent the driver market into a shock by announcing his move to Williams for 2025 and beyond. The Spaniard was touted as a strong candidate for the Audi project before this news. Williams’ team principal, James Vowles recently revealed exactly how much Sainz’s signing meant to the boys and girls back at the factory.
The current Ferrari driver is considered amongst the top six performing drivers in the sport today. With his race-winning pedigree and tons of experience, Sainz is a dream signing for the Grove-based team.
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Vowles revealed how he set the moment up for the team. In their Race Bay, the crew had fitted a projector on the wall, and Vowles walked in with the Netflix crew in front of 700-odd Williams employees waiting to hear this surprise announcement.
Williams ha subido este vídeo hace 1 hora.
Así contó Vowles el fichaje de Sainz a los trabajadores de Williams
— ElReyGuiri (@ElReyGuiri) July 31, 2024
Having been part of race-winning and championship-winning celebrations in the Race Bay with Mercedes before, Vowles could not comprehend what he had witnessed when he announced Sainz’s arrival. The 45-year-old said,
“I promise you, the emotional reaction to this was the largest I have ever seen in my F1 career. It was extraordinary – the shouting [and] screaming.”
Vowles wrapped his anecdote up by highlighting that the signing of Sainz and pairing him alongside Alex Albon is a statement of intent by the team. As he explained, Vowles believes now he has one of the best driver lineups on the grid — with both his drivers capable of delivering elite performances consistently.
Sainz can bring Williams back to the top of F1
The fulcrum of Sainz‘s arrival at Williams is his reputation at other teams. When the #55 driver joined McLaren, the team were struggling. But, he was able to lead a turnaround for them — which has now materialized into a proper championship battle with Red Bull.
After McLaren, Sainz joined Ferrari in 2021. The 2021 season was a transitional phase for the Scuderia who had suffered an awful 2020 season with an underpowered and draggy SF-1000. However, in his four years with the team, Sainz has brought the team back up to the front of the field.
Naturally, Vowles acknowledged that Sainz was the right man to bring Williams back to its glory days. However, the Briton also admitted that the entire team must step up their game to ensure that both their drivers have the best tools at their disposal to make the most out of it every weekend.
