The highlight of the 2025 System 1 season will undoubtedly be on Lewis Hamilton as he embarks on his first yr with Ferrari, marking a historic chapter in his illustrious profession. After spending 17 seasons with McLaren and Mercedes, Hamilton now joins probably the most iconic crew in F1 historical past, chasing a record-breaking eighth world championship. Ferrari, although a powerhouse within the sport, has not seen a driver declare the championship since 2007, when Kimi Raikkonen narrowly edged Hamilton within the closing race of the season.
The Scuderia got here agonizingly near successful the title once more in 2008, just for Hamilton’s dramatic overtake on Timo Glock within the closing laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix to disclaim Felipe Massa his first championship. Since then, Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc have come shut, with Alonso ending second within the standings twice and Leclerc reaching the identical feat in 2022, however falling far behind Max Verstappen within the factors.
Nonetheless, 2025 could possibly be the yr Ferrari lastly ends its championship drought. Sadly for Carlos Sainz, he gained’t have the chance to steer the cost. In a tough determination, crew principal Frederic Vasseur selected to switch Carlos Sainz with the British driver for the brand new season, leaving the Spanish driver to race for Williams as a substitute.
Autosport journalist and F1 skilled Roberto Chinchero has make clear the emotional challenges confronted by Carlos Sainz in his exit from Ferrari, revealing that the shortage of other F1 provides proved to be even tougher for the 30-year-old than dropping his seat to Hamilton.
Roberto Chinchero mentioned Carlos Sainz’s exit from the Maranello crew, explaining that whereas not everybody understood why the crew let Carlos Sainz go final yr, the motive force himself accepted that his substitute wouldn’t be simply any driver. Based on the Italian journalist, it was not the truth that Lewis Hamilton can be taking his seat that was most tough for Carlos Sainz to just accept, however moderately that three different high groups had vacancies and didn’t strategy him. Chinchero additionally famous that, over time, even the Italian media had come to acknowledge that Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari was one thing actually outstanding. He added that whereas the longer term can be decided by efficiency on observe, the preliminary a part of the story—with out the noise of the engines—had been flawless.
Each Mercedes and Purple Bull have made vital modifications to their driver line-ups for the 2025 System 1 season, whereas McLaren has remained constant by retaining Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of their seats. In distinction, Carlos Sainz has launched into a brand new chapter of his profession with Williams, a crew at the moment positioned decrease within the standings than he would have hoped.
Why Did Carlos Sainz Be a part of Williams in 2025?
The announcement of Lewis Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari in February 2024 created a ripple impact all through the paddock, and Sainz’s availability turned extensively identified nicely earlier than the motive force market frenzy, also referred to as “foolish season,” actually started. With a number of high-profile drivers coming into the market on the finish of the 2024 season, the Spaniard was linked to just about each high crew.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ crew principal, confirmed that Sainz was one in every of their choices earlier than they in the end determined to advertise Andrea Kimi Antonelli to the senior crew. In the meantime, Audi expressed a powerful need to signal the Spanish driver, however the present struggles confronted by Sauber made it unclear if the crew could possibly be aggressive within the close to future. Purple Bull, then again, didn’t actively pursue Carlos Sainz, probably because of the strained relationship between his father and Max Verstappen’s camp.
After contemplating numerous choices, Carlos Sainz selected to signal with Williams, a call that was welcomed by crew principal James Vowles, who was desirous to safe the deal. Whereas Williams will not be ready to compete for championships within the rapid future, Sainz will likely be trying to assist the crew climb the standings over the approaching seasons. For the Grove-based crew, will probably be important to display to Sainz that, though a title problem will not be on the playing cards for now, he has joined an formidable and upward-bound crew.