It's now official: Carlos Sainz will drive for Williams starting from the Pirelli tests in Abu Dhabi. Ferrari has given the Spaniard the green light to start his new adventure at the first available opportunity. All this, despite Sainz having a red contract until the end of the year
Williams in trepidation: Sainz will join the team as early as December
Finally the sad carousel started with the signature of Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari last year he brought Sainz to Williams. It was no use waiting for a more significant offer, which at least would be able to put the Spaniard in a position to fight for the positions that count. Then, who knows, Formula 1 can be completely unpredictable, especially with the regulatory change that the stables will have to face in 2026. And then the Grove team, under the leadership of James vowles, is a team under construction. In fact, during the year the English team has put a lot of effort into the technical market, bringing important professionals to its court. Finally, despite a disastrous first part of the season, with Albon and Colapinto Williams seems to have found a lean competitiveness from Baku onwards, leading its drivers to fight at least on the edge of the points zone.
In short, Carlos Sainz will certainly be able to take advantage of his skills, not only in driving, but also in the set-up and development of the car. Sensitivity, the latter, which are some of the strong points of the current Ferrari driver. Here, on this line, the green light obtained from Ferrari It's definitely good news. Sainz will be able to drive the FW46 even before the usual pre-season tests, trying to begin to understand how the English team's single-seater behaves on the track and, perhaps, what are the most urgent gaps to fill.
Like Raikkonen in 2018: Ferrari leaves Sainz free for post-season testing
It is not a given what Ferrari has allowed Sainz and Williams. In fact, drivers usually sign contracts that expire at the end of the calendar year and not the sports season. According to this type of agreement, Sainz would have had to honor his presence in the Maranello team for another month, both on the track and, if foreseen, in promotional events. It is not the first time that Ferrari, very sportingly, has let one of its drivers go before the time. It also happened to Kimi Raikkonen in 2018, who faced the post-season tests wearing the colours of Sauber Alfa Romeo.
Like Sainz in Williams, Ocon and Hulkenberg will also be able to take to the track with their respective new stables. Those who will not take advantage of these concessions will probably be Ferrari. In fact, with regards to the situation concerning Hamilton's Passage, it seems that Mercedes has not given the ok to see the seven-time world champion aboard the red car already in the Pirelli tests in Abu Dhabi. Consequently, as released by Skysports, “the most concrete possibility is to see him at Fiorano, before the official tests in Bahrain, aboard a single-seater from the team used in previous years”.
Source: Williamsf1.com, Skysport.it
