Carlos Sainz has opened up on how the immediate comprehension that he would be given the “power to change things” at Williams was a crucial factor in his decision to move to the team in Formula 1.
Sainz had been under the impression that he would be putting pen to paper on a deal to extend his time with Ferrari when he was told prior to the previous season beginning that he would be moved aside to allow the team to welcome seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc in 2025.
The bombshell revelation consigned Sainz to a position where he had to re-evaluate his prospects, all the while still having to navigate the 2024 campaign with Ferrari. But while he maintained hope that he could salvage a drive with a team that would continue to give him the immediate chance to win races, that avenue was closed when both Mercedes and Red Bull overlooked him.
That prompted a long-running saga centred around Sainz’s next destination as several midfield sides endeavoured to capitalise on a multiple-time F1 race winner being available.
Following a prolonged wait, Sainz chose to hedge his bets on Williams, signing a multi-term deal. For boss James Vowles, who had initiated contact with the Sainz camp in late 2023, securing the Spaniard’s signature over rivals Alpine and Sauber/Audi marked a huge coup in his quest to return the nine-time Constructors’ Champions to the sharp end.
Looking back on that decisive period when he was deliberating his options, Sainz has recalled how Vowles was quick to provide him the assurance that Williams would be a team that would be receptive to his ideas.
“Yeah, it was very important for me and probably one of the most important pieces of the puzzle was to go to a team where I knew I was going to be listened, where I knew I was going to be welcomed and where I knew there was power to change things, if I realised there was something I didn’t like or I would like to improve,” Sainz told Motorsport Week in an exclusive interview.
“JV [Vowles] always gave me that responsibility and that leadership of whatever you’ll say, we will try and do our best to make it happen. That was probably one of the key pieces. Obviously, I’ve been 10 years in Formula 1 now and one of the things that I think I can do well as a driver is to know how to develop a car and how to lead the team to create a better performance environment for everyone. I wanted have that possibility to be listened [to] and to lead the team in the right direction.”
The instant impact Sainz is making at Williams
Sainz possesses a proven track record when it comes to developing teams in the right direction, with each one he has been at in his career to date ending up in a better place once he has departed compared to when he first arrived. That was a point that Vowles highlighted when he named Sainz as his primary candidate to partner Alex Albon.
But while the bar was low as Williams has placed no higher than seventh since 2018 and the much-improved 2025-spec FW47 was both designed and constructed without his technical expertise, Albon and the team have credited Sainz, whose astute attention to detail has seen him be likened to an engineer in the cockpit, with having drawn on his experiences at McLaren and Ferrari to improve the team’s mindset and processes.
“I think it’s always interesting to share your different experiences,” he commented. “Now it’s 10 years in Formula 1 for me and I’m coming into a team on the rise and trying to become the best team in Formula 1. I think I’ve got really good experiences from that rise period in McLaren, the racing period of Ferrari and obviously I’m trying to help as much as I can.
“At the same time, you see Williams already doing things in a very good way, and even on some things better than what I was used to on different teams and in other things, clearly lacking and clearly things to improve. It’s sharing that experience with Alex, JV and the whole engineering team and everyone in the factory to try and put everything together to be better.”
READ MORE – Exclusive: The ‘peculiar’ F1 weaknesses that Carlos Sainz is helping Williams to address
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