The biggest story of the 2025 Formula 1 season will be how Lewis Hamilton fares during his first year with Ferrari.
After 17 seasons racing for McLaren and Mercedes, the sport’s most successful team and the most successful driver will combine, with Lewis Hamilton chasing a record-breaking eighth title.
Ferrari haven’t had a driver win the championship since 2007 when Kimi Raikkonen pipped Hamilton to the title during the final race of the season.
The Scuderia believed they had won back-to-back driver’s titles in 2008 before Hamilton’s overtake on Timo Glock denied Felipe Massa what would have been his only championship.
Fernando Alonso came closest to ending Ferrari’s barren run by finishing second in the championship on two occasions, while Charles Leclerc also achieved this feat in 2022 but was nearly 150 points behind Max Verstappen.
However, 2025 could be the year that Ferrari finally end that run, but unfortunately for Carlos Sainz, he won’t be given the chance to break that duck.
Team principal Frederic Vasseur made the tough choice to replace Sainz with Hamilton going into this season, and the Spaniard will be racing for Williams this year instead.
Journalist Roberto Chinchero, writing for Autosport, has shared more details about the 30-year-old’s upsetting exit.
Carlos Sainz found lack of F1 offers ‘harder’ than losing Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton
Talking about Sainz’s Ferrari exit, Chinchero said: “Last year, not everyone understood why Carlos Sainz was let go, but even he accepted that he wasn’t going to be replaced by some random driver.
“It’s Lewis Hamilton he’s giving his seat to. I think what was harder for Carlos to accept wasn’t that Hamilton was going to replace him at Ferrari – it was that three other top teams had vacancies and didn’t call him.
“But I think everyone now accepts, including the Italian media, that Hamilton and Ferrari is something special.
READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties
“What happens next will be much more about the stopwatch. But the first chapter of this story – the one without engine noise – was perfect.”
Mercedes and Red Bull have both changed their driver line-ups this year, while McLaren were never going to replace Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri.
Sainz is now tasked with trying to lift Williams up the standings over the next few seasons, although they’re starting from a much lower point than he would like.
Why did Carlos Sainz end up driving for Williams in 2025?
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was announced in February 2024, meaning that Sainz’s availability was known to the paddock long before the silly season truly started.
Plenty of drivers were out of contract at the end of last season and unsurprisingly, Sainz was linked with almost every team on the grid.
Toto Wolff said Sainz was definitely an option for Mercedes before they decided to promote Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
READ MORE: Williams driver Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height
Audi were desperate to sign Sainz, but Sauber’s current difficulties make it hard to see them being competitive for some time.
Red Bull didn’t pursue a move for Sainz potentially due to the animosity between the Spaniard’s father and Verstappen’s camp.
Eventually, he decided that Williams was the best choice for him and team principal James Vowles was delighted to get a deal over the line.
It’s now up to everyone within the Grove-based team to show Sainz that although he might not challenging for the championship this year, he’s joined an outfit on an upward trajectory.
Leave feedback about this