Sainz explains what made him “fall in love” with Williams · F1 · RaceFans

Carlos Sainz Jnr says he chose to join Williams last year because he decided to prioritise long-term performance over his 2025 prospects.

The driver who scored two victories last year hoped to find a race-winning car for this season after learning he would lose his seat at Ferrari. However he ultimately chose to join Williams, who ended 2024 ninth out of F1’s 10 teams.

“At the beginning, when I was having to take such an important decision, I was very focussed on which team was going to be quicker in 2025, who was generating more downforce, who is finding out stuff that is going to make them quicker,” he told Williams staff at a pre-season event with team principal James Vowles.

“Finally, I realised that my decision had to be based on two things: the project and the people. And when I started discussing in more detail with James, I realised that he had put together a very strong project here in Williams. He was forming a team with a vision, with a project together with Dorilton that I think is going to bring this team back to a front with very strong leadership and with a vision that immediately from the beginning made me fall in love with the project and trust his leadership.”

Sainz joined Ferrari from McLaren in 2021. He said McLaren’s potential was clear to him when he made the move, which emboldened him to put his faith in Williams.

“When I left McLaren, I really thought there was really good people there and that team could be world champions in the future. McLaren ended up being world champions last year and I said, okay, I need to trust my instinct.

“I know Williams have a good project, they have the backing and they have good people. And in the end, this combination of two things made me really believe in Williams.”

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Sainz began work for his new team on the day after last season ended, with a filming day at Yas Marina, followed by a day of testing. He said the team’s attitude impressed him, particularly after Williams mechanics endured many long nights at the end of the season repairing crash damage.

“The thing that I was most impressed about, if I’m honest with you, is just how motivated everyone was, even at the end of a year when we all know you went through a tough last few races,” he said. “There was a lot of hard work here at the factory, a lot of hard work at the track to get the two cars to keep going after such a bad run of crashes.

“I found people that were really enthusiastic and very motivated to work through those two days. And it’s not easy because the Abu Dhabi test is after a triple-header, [everyone is] very low in energy. I’ve done that test with other teams and I know how tired everyone gets at the end of the season at that stage.

“[But] I saw smiling faces everywhere. I saw people wanting to participate, wanting to collaborate, wanting to make that test as positive as possible. And honestly, I was extremely impressed by that and I really enjoyed the two days. It was the perfect way to go into the winter knowing I have full backing and I have everyone pushing flat-out [for] the rest of the winter.”

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