Carlos Sainz got axed from F1’s most successful team to land up with F1’s second most successful team for 2025. Read that again! The Williams of today might be in shambles, but the legacy team has 9 constructors’ championships to its name, runner-up to Ferrari’s 16. That “historic” status is what Sainz envisions reviving from 2025 onwards with the “ultimate goal of bringing Williams where it belongs – at the front of the grid.” The James Vowles-led team’s hopes finally rise and also get validated by Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur, who echoes his predecessor, Mattia Binotto, in praising Sainz’s special skills.

When Binotto signed Sainz for Ferrari, the Spaniard impressed him within a couple of months. “I think he is a great leader, not only a good driver,” Binotto said in May 2021. The now-Audi boss also lauded him for being a “great person”. Williams is at a crucial junction in their F1 journey. To rise to the top and win podiums and races, an experienced driver like Sainz was much needed. Though Ferrari didn’t seem to value him as much, Vasseur resonates with Binotto with only good to say.

“Believe me when I say I tried, at least a couple of times!” the Frenchman told FormulaPassion about his attempts at working with Sainz before joining Ferrari. “Over the last year and a half, Carlos has been incredibly consistent, not only in his results but also in his approach, the quality of his work and his relationship with the engineers. For the team, this is crucial. He is a huge professional, also because of the mood he has instilled in the team,” he added.

Vasseur also highlighted how wonderful Sainz’s technical know-how is. “Another characteristic of his is that he has a very good technical knowledge of the car and its dynamics. Last year, we had some difficult moments with Leclerc, while Sainz performed very well after the summer break between Monza and Singapore. This encouraged Charles to bounce back, and then he scored six or seven consecutive front rows. Carlos played a huge role in the team’s recovery at the end of last season,” the 56-year-old concluded.

Such technical knowledge, which Logan Sargeant didn’t possess, will immensely help James Vowles in streamlining car developments. With Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, Williams now has a formidable driver pairing. While the contract has been successfully signed, Vowles couldn’t figure out why the top teams turned their back on such a talent.

James Vowles dumbfounded by Red Bull & Mercedes’ rejection of Carlos Sainz

Lewis Hamilton‘s Ferrari move left two parties with months of uncertainty. But Mercedes and Sainz could’ve been the answer to each other’s problems. Alas, Toto Wolff’s desperate pursuit to promote 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli left Sainz in the dark. Even Red Bull didn’t consider a reunion with the 3-time Grand Prix winner despite Sergio Perez floundering. Though the teams had their reasons, Williams Boss James Vowles failed to understand what should’ve been simple math.

“Red Bull have a constructors’ championship at risk. I would have Carlos alongside Max,” the Briton said, adding, “Mercedes have more info than I do. It’s more than likely that they are very confident in the direction they will be traveling in. Whether that will be Max or Kimi, I’m unsure, but they’re not fools.” Though Vowles trusted the frontrunners’ judgment, he wasn’t very convinced, as he claimed, “Red Bull will also have reasons behind it that I won’t be aware of because they are multiple world champions. They don’t make decisions lightly, but I was surprised.”

Not just Vowles, but most of the F1 world was surprised. But the Williams boss will take surprise any day over losing a driver of Sainz’s caliber. A “performance machine” is what he labeled the Ferrari driver. Now, you might question why Frederic Vasseur even let such a high-performing athlete go. If his replacement was any driver other than Hamilton or maybe Verstappen, your question might never be well-answered. But that is F1 for you.