A day after bidding farewell to Ferrari, Carlos Sainz stepped into a Williams F1 race car during the year-end testing. Sky Sports F1 shared a video of the Spaniard taking the race car for a spin around the Yas Marina Circuit on social media.
With seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari announcement coming as a surprise, Sainz was left with a few options on the grid for the 2025 season. While the 30-year-old Madrid-born racer was initially linked with Audi (currently Kick Sauber), rumors of him going to Red Bull Racing or Williams began circulating in the F1 community.
Sainz, son of the two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz Sr., announced the decision to join Williams in July, before the summer break.
As for his final season with the legendary Italian team, Sainz added 290 points in the constructor's tally this year, allowing Ferrari to leap ahead of the 2023 championship-winning team Red Bull.
Just hours after he bid farewell to the Scarlet Red squad, Sainz stepped into the British team's race car during the post-season testing at the Yas Marina Circuit. A video of the Spaniard doing fast laps around the race track was shared by the UK-based publication Sky Sports.
Here's a look at the X post, captioned:
"Carlos Sainz seen driving a Williams car for the first time! 😲👀"
Despite the setback of losing the seat from one of the most prestigious teams in F1's history, Sainz seems to have moved ahead with the Oxfordshire-based squad. He currently has a two-year deal with the British team and will be joined by Alex Albon.
"A bit of a bittersweet feeling in the end" - Carlos Sainz on finishing on the podium for the last time with Ferrari at the Abu Dhabi
Carlos Sainz both started and ended on the podium during his last season with Ferrari. The 30-year-old Madrid-born racer expressed his feelings during the mandatory press interaction after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
"Obviously, a bit of a bittersweet feeling in the end. P2, I think, was the maximum we could do today, given the pace of Lando in the McLaren. Yeah, I gave it everything, especially the first thing. It looked like we could hang on to them. Then as soon as we put the Hard tyres, they just seemed to be that one or two tenths quicker per lap, like we've seen all weekend. And they just got a bit out of reach," Sainz said.
"Obviously emotional on the in lap with my engineer talking to me on the radio, Yeah, at the same time, very grateful, you know, to be part of this amazing team for four years. I think I've had the opportunity to win my first races, do my first pole positions, my first podiums. I've proven to myself and to everyone that I can be fighting for race wins and for podiums," he added.
Sainz eventually finished in fifth place in the 2024 driver's championship behind his then-teammate Charles Leclerc who ended in third position.