How Williams persuaded Carlos Sainz to join – Finally, as TJ13 reported earlier today, the start of the summer break is a classic moment in time for F1 drivers and teams to announce their future plans. In 2022 the day after the final race before the Sumer, Fernando Alonso declared he was leaving Alpine to join Aston Martin.
Now Williams and Carlos Sainz have revealed their future together with the Spaniard leaving Ferrari after four years of service. The deal is initially for two seasons although it is believed there is a an exit clause for Carlos should Red Bull or Mercedes come calling.
Red Bull are almost certainly going to replace Sergio Perez with Daniel Ricciardo, but should the Aussie prove no better than the Mexican driver over there final ten weekends of the season, the world champion F1 team may wish to recruit Sainz for 2025.
Mercedes F1 tough decisions
Mercedes are in a pickle now given the shift in relationship between them and the Williams team. Toto Wolff had hoped to place Kimi Antonelli with the team from Grove as they did with George Russell before promoting him alongside Lewis Hamilton two years ago.
The change in the agreement between the two teams is even more surprising given James Vowles – who was in line to succeeds Toto Wolff – is now the Williams team principal. Yet the former Mercedes man has decided to plough his own furrow now there is huge investment coming into the team from owners Dorilton.
Ageing facilities at Williams HQ are becoming state of the art as Vowles confirmed the “hundreds of millions” the US owner is piling into the teams.
Yet the question for many will be why Sainz chose Williams over the future big Audi F1 project or even Alpine now they have confirmed they will be powered by Mercedes in the future. Was it the case that Williams was the least worst option or did the team persuade Carlos their future was more promising than their competitors for the Spaniard’s signature.
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Vowles promotes Williams vision
James Vowles had been coy about the future driver line of up his team then in June he changed his tune stating “Sainz is our number one target” late in June. The Williams boss has been speaking regularly of his vision for the team despite their lack of points this year.
It seems Audi in recent weeks became easy for Carlos to reject. His previous team boss Andreas Seidl at McLaren has been sacked along with Oliver Hofmann for failing to take the Audi project in the right direction. Despite the announcement that Mattia Binotto was taking over at Sauber/Audi the arrival of the man who brought Sainz to Ferrari appears to have come too late.
Further, Audi have a mountain to climb joining F1 as a power unit supplier. The last team to attempt this was Honda and their years in the wilderness with McLaren are well documented.
Audi has not presented a coherent media presence of their progress and the are repeated reports they are behind schedule with their power unit programme fro 2026.
Alpine chaos unattractive
Alpine made a last ditch effort to sign Carlos Sainz as Flavio Briatore was parachuted into the team before the Spanish Grand Prix. Press announcements of Sainz signing for Williams were withdrawn during the weekend of the Spanish Grand Prix as Flavio performed shuttle diplomacy between senior Renault executives and the Sainz management camp.
Yet the reality is Alpine are in big trouble. It his truly shocking that Renault are withdrawing from F1 and the French owned outfit will be powered by Mercedes. Bruno Famin has cut a draconian figure in charge of the team and his threats of “consequences” for Esteban Ocon live on French TV following his crash in Monaco only served to upset team unity further.
The ideal move for Sainz would be to take a one year deal with Mercedes and fight for a longer term drive by beating George Russell. Yet Toto Wolff’s inability to find Kimi Antonelli a seat elsewhere makes it likely the silver arrows will debut a rookie as Hamilton’s replacement.
James Vowles refusal to be a feeder team for Mercedes anymore will force Wolff to sign the young Italian out of concern he will lose him to another team instead. Wolff missed lout on Max Verstappen when he was in junior racing and the scars of this mistake will drive him to sign the Mercedes protégé.
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The least worst option for Sainz
So what was the factor that convinced Sainz to do the deal? Well the release clause should Mercedes or Red Bull come calling will have been a major factor, although now Toto Wolff could try Vowles patience by offering the Spaniard a drive – and gamble on Antonelli finding a seat elsewhere.
In reality, Williams were the least worst option for Sainz who at the peak of his powers must be struggling to understand why he’s joining a current back of the grid outfit.
Despite only having four points this season, Williams have been way better than Sauber/Audi who remain pointless and the team now expects both its cars to be regulars in Q2 and even Q1 with Albon.
While Alpine have three times more points it was not enough to persuade Sainz who refused to be convinced by Flavio Briatore’s smoke and mirrors. Alpine in the short term will have the better results but the team’s uncertain future is something Sainz wished to avoid.
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Pay drivers a thing of Williams past
In recent years Williams have resorted to pay drivers like Latifi and Sargeant, but as the commercial director of the team revealed back in June, they now have a full roster of sponsors and have the spending power to reach the FIA’s cost cap.
The arrival of Sainz will see Williams have a competitive driver pairing for the first time since Massa left in 2017.
The arrival of Carlos is great news for Alex Albon who despite continuous praise for efforts from all corners of the paddock, has only had weak team mates whom the Thai-British driver has easily beaten. With Sainz across the garage, Albon can now demonstrate his skills against a driver Ferrari believed to be one of the best on the grid.
The shock still remains that neither Red Bull or Mercedes have signed a driver of such skill and the latter have proven an experienced drier line up can see the failings of their car overcome. Having won three of the last four races, Toto Wolff must be wondering whether the signing of a rookie will maximise their opportunities next year, or whether if the W16 car is competitive whether titles will be on offer in 2025.
F1 testing shootout planned for Lawson and Ricciardo
The big Milton Keynes pow wow takes place today. Dr. Helmut Marko has flown in from the continent to as he and Christian Horner sit down to discuss amongst other matters the future of Sergio Perez.
In Hungary the 81 year old Austrian confirmed there was an exit clause in the Mexican driver’s contract which is believed to state if Checo is more than 100 points behind Verstappen at the summer break, the team can activate their option to release him immediately. The current gap is 146.
“All Formula 1 contracts have exit clauses, most of them related to performance or let’s say for the top drivers,” Marko told assembled media in Budapest. “We will have an evaluation during the summer break and then we will make a decision.” READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
