Motor racing-Sainz to move from Ferrari to Williams in 2025 (updated)

Liberty Media

29/07/2024 16:30

* 
      Sainz signs two-year deal with options
    

        * 
      Spaniard will partner Albon in 2025
    

        * 
      Move opens the driver market
    

        * 
      U.S. racer Sargeant to leave 
    

  
 (Adds details, changes dateline)
       LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) - Ferrari's Carlos Sainz will
race for Williams next season after signing a multi-year deal,
the Formula One team said on Monday in a major coup for a team
currently ninth in the championship.
    The Spaniard, who will be teammate to Alex Albon in place of
U.S. racer Logan Sargeant, is leaving Ferrari at the end of the
year to make way for Mercedes' seven-times world champion Lewis
Hamilton.  
    Former champions Williams said the 29-year-old winner of
three races had signed a two-year agreement with options to
extend. 
        "It is no secret that this year’s driver market has been
exceptionally complex for various reasons and that it has taken
me some time to announce my decision," said Sainz in a
statement.
  
        "However, I am fully confident that Williams is the
right place for me to continue my F1 journey and I am extremely
proud of joining such a historic and successful team.
  
        "The ultimate goal of bringing Williams back to where it
belongs, at the front of the grid, is a challenge that I embrace
with excitement and positivity."
  
        Sainz, who had also been of interest to Sauber/Audi and
Renault-owned Alpine, said he was convinced Williams had "all
the right ingredients to make history again".
  
        His decision makes it more likely that Italian rookie
Andrea Kimi Antonelli will join Mercedes as Hamilton's
replacement since they can no longer place him at Williams to
learn the ropes as they did with George Russell.
  
        Williams team boss James Vowles previously worked at
Mercedes under principal Toto Wolff.
  
        "Carlos joining Williams is a strong statement of intent
from both parties," said Vowles, describing the Spaniard as a
perfect fit.
  
        "Carlos has demonstrated time and again that he is one
of the most talented drivers on the grid, with race-winning
pedigree, and this underlines the upward trajectory we are on,"
he added.
  
        "People should be in no doubt about our ambition and
momentum as we continue our journey back to competitiveness – we
are here, we are serious and with Dorilton’s backing we are
investing in what it takes to return to the front of the grid."
  
        Williams were dominant in the 1980s and 1990s but have
not won a world championship since Canadian Jacques Villeneuve
in 1997.
  
        Sainz had been seen as the key to the driver market and
now that the Spaniard has decided his future the other seat
announcements can follow.
  

 (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Ken
Ferris)
 ((alan.baldwin@thomsonreuters.com; +442075427933;))