Sainz to join Williams for post-season Abu Dhabi test

Williams recruit Carlos Sainz will enjoy an early start to his tenure with the Grove-based outfit, as the Spaniard will join the team for next month’s post-season test in Abu Dhabi.

The outgoing Ferrari driver, a four-time winner with the Scuderia who will make way for Lewis Hamilton at the Italian outfit from 2025, will drive for Williams in 2024 alongside Alex Albon.

Sainz’s opportunity to take to the track at Yas Marina onboard Williams’ 2025 contender, the FW46, will allow the 30-year-old to begin his early integration with the British outfit and familiarize himself with the team’s personnel and processes.

Despite the sport’s close competition, it’s not unusual for teams to release a driver early to allow the latter to join a new squad.

Such was the case in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2022, when Alpine allowed Fernando Alonso to get a head start on his partnership with Aston Martin.

• Read also: Sainz confident he’d ‘work well’ with Verstappen at Red Bull

Sainz’s move to Williams will bring an end to the Spaniard’s four-year relationship with Ferrari, while Williams will be the fifth team for which he will compete in F1.

Sainz began his career with Toro Rosso in 2015 before competing with Renault in 2018 for a single complete season. He transferred thereafter to McLaren where he remained for two seasons before move to Ferrari in 2021.

Tom Stallard, Sainz’s former race engineer at McLaren, believes Williams have not only signed up a talented driver but also a brilliant technical mind.

“Carlos once said to me, when we asked him what his ideal job in Formula 1 was, he said race engineer before he considered whether driver was an option!” Stallard recounted, speaking to Formula1.com.

“He loves the engineering and the technical side of Formula 1. It makes sense because his dad, Carlos Senior, is the same in rally.

“So I think they[Williams] are getting someone who will really want to engage with their technical department, who will want to join engineering meetings and help them [to] be pushing in the right direction. He absolutely loves all that.”

Reflecting further on Sainz’s qualities, Stallard also underscored the former’s easy-going and colorful personality.

“He’s a nice guy to deal with. He’s kind of demanding when he needs to be demanding – you actually want to work with someone who’s demanding when things need to be demanding,” added the British engineer.

“But he’s funny, he’s a bit wacky, he’s definitely going to be a big asset to the Williams team and I think [he] will help them a lot.”

Along with Sainz and Hamilton moving to their respective teams during the off-season, Nico Hulkenberg will join Sauber from Haas while Alpine's Esteban Ocon will transfer to the US outfit.

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