Revealed: How McLaren convinced Carlos Sainz to join Williams

Carlos Sainz has said he has the same “feeling” Williams are heading for success that he did when he left McLaren in 2020.

As Sainz nears the Ferrari exit door, his former team McLaren look to have the quickest car on the grid and the Spaniard believes Williams are on a similar trajectory.

Carlos Sainz reveals same McLaren ‘feeling’ at Williams

After two seasons with the team, Sainz left McLaren to move to Ferrari but his former colleagues are now challenging for the Constructors’ title in a way that the Italian side has failed to do since Sainz joined.

Now with Sainz into the final 10 races of his Ferrari career, the Spaniard suggested he got the same “feeling” about his new team Williams that he did when he left McLaren.

“I remember when I left McLaren in 2020, I had the feeling that the team was moving forward and was going to be successful in the future,” he told media including PlanetF1.com in Zandvoort. “Having spent time working with Zak Brown and Andrea Stella.

“When I left McLaren, I said they might not be winning next year or the following, but this team with these people are going to be winning soon, and four years later, they’re performing at an incredibly high level.

“And if I had that feeling at that time, now I have this feeling about the people and the culture in Williams. I need to trust that feeling and this is what I committed to.”

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Sainz revealed that he made his decision to join Williams during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend and that speaking to Williams team principal James Vowles was crucial in his choice.

“He was very important,” Sainz said of the 45-year-old Vowles. “Obviously, he’s the leader of the project and he has the vision. He shared that vision with his leadership and he convinced me.

“He did a very good job, in that sense, in convincing me and in sharing the vision that he has in the project that he has in mind with me and I think we are relatively similar characters in terms that we are both very analytical, very fair and open. And he convinced me, simple as that.”

Sainz will join Williams in 2025 on a multi-year deal, making the Grove outfit the fifth team the Spaniard has driven for in F1.

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