Sainz joins Mansell, Prost and Ickx after Williams switch
F1 News
Carlos Sainz has already had quite a F1 career with various teams. His move from Ferrari to Williams puts the Spaniard in a list of special names.
Come the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the 2025 season, Carlos Sainz will have been the fourth driver in Formula 1 history to have driven for Williams, Ferrari and McLaren, the big three. He will be in the company of F1 legends the likes of Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Jacky Ickx.
Mansell became world champion with Williams in 1992. Prost is on a par with Max Verstappen at the moment with four world titles. In 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1993, the Frenchman became champion three times with McLaren and then one final time with Williams.
Sainz looking to bring Williams back into fight at the top
Ickx and Sainz himself are the drivers in this list without world titles. In 2024, Williams finished ninth in the championship with 17 points. Is it unfathomable that this team ever fought for -and won- world titles? They actually have seven Drivers' titles and nine Constructors' titles to their name.
The Spaniard was hired by Williams to help them get back to winning ways, having seen what he has been able to do to help McLaren, and most recently Ferrari, to get back to the front, with the Woking based team having won Constructors' in 2024, and the Maranello based team losing to the British team, its long time rivals, by naught but 14 points.
Though one of the most respected drivers up and down the paddock, Sainz has not yed had the fortune of 'being at the right place at the right time' on his side, with him always leaving teams just before they''ve reached winning ways. Indeed, the Spaniard was pushed out of Ferrari in order to make way for Lewis Hamilton, just when the team are now primed to join the fray for F1 titles, realistically so, for the first time in almost two decades.
The choice for the Grove Street based team, following his departure from Maranello, is mostly due to James Vowles's vision for the Williams Racing team, with the British team boss having convinced Sainz that it was possible to get Williams back to the front of the field fighting for the top prizes. Although the team is yet to show it in terms of results, the change has begun to become apparent in its infraestructure and more up to date procedures. However, Williams still has a long way to go on its steep climb back to the top of F1.
This article was written in collaboration with Sandy van Wijngaarden.
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