Carlos Sainz departs Ferrari as a race-winner who helped to lead them back to where they belong in Formula 1 after the 2024 season.
He joined the Scuderia back in 2021 where they languished as a midfield team and failed to take one victory.
Sainz won multiple races this year, as did teammate Charles Leclerc on their way to an agonising Constructors’ Championship defeat by just 14 points to McLaren.
Ferrari are in a far better position because of the work done by the Spaniard though, making it the second team he has played a huge role in leading to the front.
It’s part of the reason why Lando Norris told Williams that Sainz would make them a top team after his arrival in 2025. He’s managed to help the two fastest teams in the sport get to where they are now over the last five years after all.
Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari from Mercedes in 2025 to replace Sainz, a move which surprised some people who believe that the seven-time champion’s best days may be behind him.
Carlos Sainz had ‘full doubts’ before Australian Grand Prix win
Just a matter of weeks after it was announced that Hamilton would be taking the 30-year-old’s seat, Sainz fell ill at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Youngster Oliver Bearman replaced him and became the youngest point-scorer in the Italian outfit’s history while the Spaniard underwent surgery on his appendix.
Albeit sore and visibly awkward at stages, he returned at the Australian Grand Prix. Red Bull had taken comfortable victories and looked set to dominate for another year at that stage.
READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton has now held the same ‘secret meetings’ as Carlos Sainz did before joining Ferrari
That was until Sainz rocked up and claimed a stunning victory as Max Verstappen suffered an early retirement. He told the Ferrari YouTube channel how special the moment was after what he had been through.
“I think what makes the Australian Grand Prix win special, is with what happened the two weeks before you know, coming from the appendix surgery, the unknown of whether I was going to race,” he said.
“Suddenly going from those full doubts to winning the race in the way I won it, was an incredible win.”
How long will it be before Carlos Sainz is on an F1 podium again?
Sainz now joins a Williams team that has featured on the podium once in the last seven seasons with a fortuitous result in stormy conditions at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2021 for George Russell.
In other words, they need minor miracles to replicate that sort of result and it could be a while before the four-time victor gets near the podium again.
The Grove-based outfit have made it no secret that they intend to go all in for the 2026 F1 regulations and turn a new chapter in their history books.
READ MORE: Carlos Sainz told the special ‘value’ he could bring to Williams that Franco Colapinto couldn’t
Team boss James Vowles has helped them to develop their infrastructure and invest heavily in the future – something which needed to happen if they were ever to compete again.
Alex Albon pairs with Sainz to give them one of the most well-rounded line-ups on the grid, with over 300 races of experience between them.
In other words, there’s no reason why Sainz cannot be back on the podium in 2026…
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