Official: Carlos Sainz signs long-term contract with Williams

Just a day after the Belgian Grand Prix, Williams have announces that Carlos Sainz will complete the team’s driver line-up for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season and beyond.

After Ferrari announced in February that seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz from 2025, the Spaniard has been linked with several outfits.

Williams have now confirmed that they secured the services of the three-time F1 race winner who will join the Grove-based outfit from Ferrari on a two-year agreement with options to extend.

In his Formula 1 career to date, the 29-year-old Spaniard has achieved three race victories, 23 podiums, over 1,100 career points and is currently sitting fifth in this season’s Drivers’ Championship.

After becoming the only non-Red Bull Racing driver to achieve a race victory in 2023, Sainz most recently took victory at this year’s Australian Grand Prix, just ten days after surgery for appendicitis, and has scored four further podiums so far this season.

The Madrid-born driver will race alongside Alex Albon for Williams Racing for 2025 and into the new F1 regulations era as the formidable pairing look to spearhead the team’s mission to return to the front of the grid. He will continue to race using number 55.

The decision means that Williams will oust Logan Sargeant, who joined the British outfit in 2023. The Miami-born driver was part of the Williams Driver Academy, and became the first US driver to score a point for 30 years when he finished 10th in Austin last year.

However, Williams noted that they "will give Logan every support as he looks to continue his racing career for 2025 and into the future."

Commenting on the announcement, Sainz said: “I am very happy to announce that I will be joining Williams Racing from 2025 onwards. It is no secret that this year’s driver market has been exceptionally complex for various reasons and that it has taken me some time to announce my decision.

"However, I am fully confident that Williams is the right place for me to continue my F1 journey and I am extremely proud of joining such a historic and successful team, where many of my childhood heroes drove in the past and made their mark on our sport.

"The ultimate goal of bringing Williams back to where it belongs, at the front of the grid, is a challenge that I embrace with excitement and positivity. I am convinced that this team has all the right ingredients to make history again and starting on January 1 I will give my absolute best to drive Williams forward alongside every single member of the team.

“I want to thank James Vowles and the entire Board of Williams for their trust and determination. Their solid leadership and convictions have played an important role in my decision-making. I truly believe that the core of every successful team lies amongst their people and their culture.

"Williams is synonymous with heritage and pure racing, the foundations of the project that lies ahead of us are very strong and I am really looking forward to being part of it starting next year.”

"Carlos has demonstrated time and again that he is one of the most talented drivers on the grid, with race-winning pedigree, and this underlines the upwards trajectory we are on. Carlos brings not just experience and performance, but also a fierce drive to extract every millisecond out of the team and car; the fit is perfect.

“In Alex and Carlos we will have one of the most formidable driver line-ups on the grid and with huge experience to guide us into the new regulations in 2026. Their belief in this organisation’s mission demonstrates the magnitude of the work going on behind the scenes.

"People should be in no doubt about our ambition and momentum as we continue our journey back to competitiveness – we are here, we are serious and with Dorilton’s backing we are investing in what it takes to return to the front of the grid.