Williams boss makes bold Carlos Sainz prediction after Ferrari exit: ‘He’d prefer to be here’
Sainz will leave Ferrari after four years with the Scuderia to join Williams next year
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Your support makes all the difference.Williams boss James Vowles believes his team will soon be beating Ferrari with Carlos Sainz set to join next year.
Spanish driver Sainz will team up with Alex Albon at Williams in 2025, having been forced out of his Ferrari seat with Lewis Hamilton joining the Scuderia. Sainz will replace Franco Colapinto, who only recently stepped in for the axed Logan Sargeant.
Sainz, 30, has won three grands prix during his four years at Ferrari and it is that winning mindset which Vowles is looking to embrace within the Grove-based outfit over the next few years.
Asked on the Beyond the Grid podcast whether he was surprised Sainz recently said he could race for Ferrari again after Williams, Vowles replied: “No, I’d say the same thing.
“But when we’re beating Ferrari, I think he’d prefer to be here.”
Williams will be Sainz’s fifth F1 team, having started out at Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso before heading to Renault and McLaren.
“Carlos comes with him not just the ability to drive a car quickly, but an ability to lead the team forward,” Vowels continued.
“And where we are as Williams today is I need leaders in and around me that are able to understand what excellence looks like from, in this case Ferrari or McLaren, and bring them here so that we push ourselves forward.
“Because at the rate we’re going, we’re doing OK but we need proper leaps and bounds.”
Argentine driver Colapinto, meanwhile, has impressed since deputising for Sargeant and picked up his first F1 points with an eighth-place finish in Azerbaijan last month.
However, his options for 2025 look limited with Sauber (Audi) the only available seat remaining. Valtteri Bottas is the favourite to partner Nico Hulkenberg, with current F2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto also in the running.
Despite this, Vowles has mooted approaching Sauber about the prospect of taking on Colapinto next year.
F1 returns after a three-week break with the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on 18-20 October.
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