Jul.28 (GMM) Carlos Sainz has finally made his decision about where to race in 2025 – Williams.
That’s the claim of two authoritative Formula 1 media sources, after the departing Ferrari driver’s father and co-manager Carlos Sainz senior was seen leaving Williams’ motorhome at Spa-Francorchamps.
Sainz jr, 29, has been a ‘cork in the bottle’ of the driver market for some time, as he held out for a seat at Red Bull or Mercedes whilst fielding enthusiastic offers from midfielders Sauber-Audi, Alpine and Williams.
Sainz’s manager and cousin Carlos Onoro Sainz was also at the meeting with rally legend Sainz senior and Williams boss James Vowles, the Spanish newspaper Diario Sport reports from the Belgian GP.
The 3-time grand prix winner said on Friday that he would rather go to a “midfield team” for his “near future” than take a sabbatical, although he wouldn’t say whether he wanted to put pen to paper before the summer break.
“I cannot honestly give you the answer, and I cannot answer that question,” said Sainz. “It’s as simple as that. I don’t know if it’s going to be before or after the summer break.”
That timeline may now have changed, with the German broadcaster Sport1 believing Sainz has now signed a one-year contract with options to extend.
Williams boss James Vowles has reportedly even been able to offer the Spaniard a handsome 10 million euros a year, and a special clause allowing Sainz to jump out of the deal immediately if a top team opportunity arises at any point.
There is even speculation that Vowles and his old boss at Mercedes, Toto Wolff, have agreed that if Sainz does get an opportunity in silver, Williams will instead be loaned the impressive 17-year-old rookie Kimi Antonelli.
The Sainz news is expected to be announced shortly.
It would be bad news for Valtteri Bottas, who had hoped to secure the seat alongside Alex Albon. However, with his current team Sauber-Audi ousting Andreas Seidl, Bottas does now have the opportunity to kick off talks with his new boss, Mattia Binotto.
“It is going to reset the talks a bit, because we have previously been in communication with Andreas and Oliver (Hoffmann), and now it’s Mattia, who will officially start next week, I believe,” said Bottas.
“For sure that will change some things, so we need to speak.”
Also hoping to secure the Audi seat, however, is Mick Schumacher, who would complete an attractive all-German driver lineup for the marque’s new works project.
“For me it is very important to be back in Formula 1,” Schumacher told RTL at Spa. “And now every team in F1 is competitive – maybe not enough to win, but you can still position yourself really well, no matter which team you are with at the moment.”
When asked specifically about Audi, the 25-year-old described it as a “very exciting project” that would be a “very good choice”.