Carlos Sainz at Williams: another setback for Audi
The German automaker, which will enter Formula 1 next year, is giving a new impetus to its project. With a new organization to convince certain drivers to join the team. A strategy that didn't really work, however, as Carlos Sainz decided to turn down Audi to join Williams.
It’s a terrible blow for the German brand. While it had just shaken up its organizational chart with the successive departures of Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffman, both men having different visions for the future of the brand, and the arrival of Mattia Binotto, former director of Ferrari, and therefore of Carlos Sainz, the Spaniard finally decided to turn to the British team Williams, which he considers more prepared for the future challenges that Formula 1 will impose.
« I am convinced that this team has all the right ingredients to make history again and starting from January 1st, I will give my best to move Williams forward alongside each team member. I am fully confident that I made the right choice. The ultimate goal of bringing Williams back to where it belongs, at the front of the grid, is a challenge that I accept with excitement and positivity », highlighted the Spaniard.
This news was a slap in the face for Audi, which had hoped that Mattia Binotto’s arrival within the team would change the game, the Italian having had very good relations with the Spaniard during their partnership. However, after this announcement, Carlos Sainz had silenced the potential rumors of his transfer to Audi by explaining that it would not change his future decision, comments that were followed by actions as he decided to join Williams a few days later.
This puts an end to speculation about the 29-year-old driver’s future team, initially linked to Audi F1 due to the Sainz family’s close relationship with the German manufacturer, his father, a double world rally champion, having been racing with the Audi team since 2022. For Craig Slater, a journalist at Sky Sports, despite the lack of competitiveness of the Grove team this year, the Spaniard made the right decision for his future.
« It is not a great short-term option if we based it on the current form. And I think that’s what was most important in Carlos’s mind. In fact, I think that in addition to admiring the project and it is a great move for Williams, I think his opinion is based on the next year. He must think that it is with Williams that he will be the best. It is in this car that he has the best chance of achieving good results, he notably explained in his podcast.
The Spaniard therefore trusts the Grove team and is convinced that he will be able to help them regain the top positions. Conversely, the Audi project, still unstable, did not meet his requirements, hence this refusal, a vote of no confidence according to Slater.
« I think it was a vote of no confidence for Sauber/Audi, especially when you think about the family connection with Sainz and Carlos Sainz Senior winning the Dakar with Audi and the Volkswagen Group. For him, to distance himself from that when it seemed like the most obvious place for him is a clear sign that things are not going well there. »
« I spoke to someone who has a good view of what is currently happening in this team. He doesn’t say anything that isn’t obvious, but he described it to me as a mess and observed that it is a team that can’t even mount a wheel correctly on a car at the moment.
A crisis situation that is unlikely to improve after this non-transfer for the German manufacturer who hoped to have two talented, experienced, and fast drivers to start its Formula 1 adventure. Audi will now have to negotiate with its two current drivers or take a chance on youth within its academy, in which a certain Théo Pourchaire is included.
