F1 | Sainz: “I’ve had the hardest seven months of my career!”

Carlos Sainz spoke for the first time as a future Williams driver. The announcement that made his contract with the English team official came after the Spa weekend, when Formula 1 was on holiday, making Thursday in Zandvoort the first time Sainz found himself in front of the microphones.

After long months in which he had to answer questions about his 2025 using platitudes, he was finally able to shed light on the reasons that led him to his final decision.
“It was important to know my future before the summer break,” Sainz began. “It’s been seven months of the hardest of my career, I had to deal with everything that happened in January (the confirmation of Lewis Hamilton’s arrival in Maranello) while trying to give my best on the track as a driver. All this in a high-pressure and high-tension environment like the one at Ferrari.”

Sainz has never hidden the fact that he wants to return to focusing solely on driving as soon as possible, but at the same time he wanted to carefully evaluate all the possibilities offered by the market.
“Running and having to think about the future by analyzing every opportunity in detail is not the best,” he admitted. “I couldn’t wait to put it all behind me, but at the same time I also wanted to be 100% convinced of my choice. In the end, I decided to focus on Williams, the team that gave me great feelings right from the start of negotiations.”

“The same feeling I felt at McLaren”

Sainz made his final decision just before the Spa weekend. Carlos confirmed how important the role of team principal James Vowles had been (“He was convincing!”) together with a feeling that took him back four years.
“During my years in Formula 1 I also learned to trust my feeling,” he confirmed. “When I left McLaren in 2020 I had the feeling that the team was going in the right direction.”

“I remember very well that after working closely with Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, when I said goodbye to the team I said to myself ‘I don’t know if it’s next season or the season after, but this team is destined to win again’, and that’s what happened. Well, I felt the same feeling talking to people at Williams, and I want to trust myself. I felt very strong leadership and a very strong desire to bring a Formula 1 team with a great tradition back to the forefront, and that’s something that motivates me, I think it’s going to be an interesting few years in my career.”

Carlos knows well that with Williams, especially in 2025, he will not be able to hope to obtain the same results he has fought for in recent years, but it is something he has taken into account…
“I have been in Formula 1 for ten years, and in eight seasons I have not fought for victories, only in two or three years have I had this opportunity. So in reality I have spent more time in the condition of not being able to fight for victory, I know this reality, and I can tell you that for me the challenge has always been to extract the maximum from the car that I have at my disposal”.

“The result does not only depend on the driver, you know, it is also linked to the car you drive, but the challenge that awaits me will be to help the team, I like this role, I like to feel so much trust around me and to be able to give my contribution. In 2025 I know there may not be victories or podiums, but I still think we can do a good job”.

“Now, however, my only goal is to give my best in the next ten races,” concluded Sainz. “I will finally be able to race without having to think about my future. Then there will also be time to think about Williams, but… I hope you won’t continue to ask me all these questions in the next nine races, since the decision has already been made. And then, we will have the whole winter to talk about the future.”