Williams driver Carlos Sainz has revealed that he has “come to my own conclusions” over why he was overlooked by the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes for an F1 2025 seat.

Sainz was forced to make way for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari at the end of the 2024 season after a successful four-year stint with the Italian team.

Carlos Sainz has ‘come to own conclusions’ over Mercedes, Red Bull snubs

With Hamilton’s move to Ferrari announced on February 1 2024, it meant both drivers were plunged into the unusual situation of spending the entire 2024 campaign with their existing teams in the knowledge that they would be parting ways at the end of the season.

Sainz responded to the news of his Ferrari exit by producing the most complete season of his career, collecting two assured victories in Australia and Mexico.

Yet despite his impressive form alongside Charles Leclerc, the Spaniard failed to force his way into the thinking of Red Bull and Mercedes.

Carlos Sainz vs Alex Albon: Williams head-to-head scores for F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Sainz was briefly linked with a move to Mercedes before the team eventually signed teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Hamilton’s successor.

The 30-year-old was also overlooked by Red Bull, who eventually opted to replace Sergio Perez with Liam Lawson for the F1 2025 season.

The decision to sign Lawson backfired with Red Bull dropping the Kiwi in favour of Yuki Tsunoda after just two races of this year.

Tsunoda himself has found himself under mounting scrutiny over recent weeks, having suffered two Q1 exits in the last three races at Imola and Barcelona.

Sainz found himself at the heart of the longest-running transfer saga of 2024, with the four-time race winner heavily linked with Audi F1 and Alpine at various points before finally electing to join Williams, the move announced 24 hours after the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa in July.

And he has admitted that he was holding out for an opportunity to arise at a race-winning team, with Williams representing the best back-up option.

Asked why it took so long for him to decide his next move in 2024, Sainz told Motorsport.com: “I took my time until the summer to check if there was an opportunity with a top team and to assess what the best alternative would be.

“I didn’t want to make the wrong choice – I evaluated everything very carefully.”

Asked why he was not seriously considered by a top team, he said: “I’ve come to my own conclusions. But I’ll keep them to myself.

“I believe the people in F1 know perfectly well why certain choices are made – I don’t need to explain it in front of a microphone.

“So I told myself: if I can’t join a top team, I’ll help build one.

“At Williams, I saw the potential to start a great story.

“I spoke at length with James [Vowles, team principal] about the project he had in mind and I decided to bet on Williams because it seemed like the best opportunity to build a top team.

“Six months into this journey, I can say I’m even more convinced than when I signed.

“We’re all working 100 per cent to achieve this goal.”

More on Carlos Sainz and Williams from PlanetF1.com

👉 Carlos Sainz news

👉 Williams news

After finishing a disappointing ninth in last year’s Constructors’ standings, Williams have made an encouraging start to F1 2025 and currently sit fifth, 26 points ahead of sixth-placed Racing Bulls.

Having struggled to adapt to the FW47 car at the start of the season, Sainz has shown signs of promise over recent weeks by scoring points in four consecutive races between the Saudi Arabian and Monaco grands prix.

However, he suffered a setback at his home race in Barcelona last weekend as he was knocked out of Q1 and finished a distant 14th.

Sainz trails team-mate Alex Albon, who has finished inside the top 10 at all but two rounds so far, by 30 points entering next weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

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