Carlos Sainz expresses great satisfaction with his first season as a Williams driver. The Spaniard had to make way for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari at the end of 2024 and thus ended up at the then backmarker team. A year later, Williams concludes the season with a fifth place in the constructors’ championship. ‘I now have the results to justify my choice for Williams,’ Sainz concludes happily.
Carlos Sainz was informed at the beginning of 2024 that he would be starting his final season as a Ferrari driver. The Spaniard had to make way for Lewis Hamilton, who took over the Madrilenian’s seat a year later. Sainz himself entered into discussions with several teams to continue his Formula 1 career with another racing stable. After much deliberation, the choice fell on Williams, a backmarker team.
Sainz’s gamble, however, paid off handsomely, with the Spaniard standing on the podium twice on behalf of the British racing team. His successor at Ferrari, George Russell, on the other hand, failed to reach the podium even once. How does Sainz now reflect on his rollercoaster season with Williams? “It’s gone by much faster than I thought!” Sainz laughs in an interview with F1.com. “The fact that we’re on the move so much between races, non-stop… The sport is growing enormously, so you’re doing more marketing, you’re traveling more, there are more races. At the end of the year, you can’t comprehend how quickly it’s all gone by.”
Justification
“But if you had told me at the beginning of the year that Williams would be in fifth place in the championship by the end of the year, I would have gladly accepted that. Overall, it’s been a good year,” concludes the Madrid native contentedly. Sainz is particularly pleased that he was able to prove his point. “When I signed with Williams in the summer of 2024, people wouldn’t have believed me if I’d said I was joining them because these results were coming. Now I have the results to back up why I chose this team – it feels like a justification.”
