Carlos Sainz will bring ‘gravitas’ to Williams, claims Damon Hill

Sainz currently sits fifth in the Drivers’ Championship with five podium finishes this season

Carlos Sainz will leave Ferrari for Williams (Getty Images)

Damon Hill believes the signing of Carlos Sainz for 2025 means that Williams have now got the “perfect combination” as they look to improve on their recent form.

Sainz, 29, found himself surplus to requirements at Ferrari after they signed Lewis Hamilton, and will join up with Alex Albon at the Oxfordshire-based team.

“The dynamic, how it would work with Alex. That is also really important, putting two people together who work together in a team like Williams at the stage they are now, you need those guys to work together,”said Hill.

“I think they are a perfect combination. I can see these two, they’re both pretty grown-up individuals and competitive and hard workers. I think they’ll complement each other brilliantly.”

“He’s got gravitas, Carlos,” Hill added. “And I think that’s what people sense about him. He’s a hard worker, as well. I know him and his dad quite well and they are serious people. They’re not people who take Formula One as a kind of a jolly. Carlos works at it and he delivers.

Williams team boss James Vowles said he was “surprised” that neither Mercedes nor Red Bull wanted Sainz next season because he rates him as “one of the top four drivers - if not at times the number two driver on the grid”.

Carlos Sainz’s move to back-markers Williams came as a surprise (AP)

“Look at every team he has been in. They have improved significantly - and I get why,” he said.

“After spending the last nine months talking to him at least weekly, what I’ve realised is he is a performance machine.

“He will do everything in his power to transform himself and the team around him. And that’s powerful. That’s worth more than what he can drive the car at.”