Carlos Sainz Jnr

New Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jnr was impressed by the team’s live launch of its 2025 car at Silverstone.

Sainz, who has joined the team from Ferrari, was first to drive the new FW47. It left its garage on schedule just over half an hour after the team began a live broadcast from the track.

The team suffered a difficult start to last season as changes at its factory meant completion of the previous car ran late and they began the year short on parts. But Sainz, whose first two laps in the car were shown live, reported no problems after his first runs.

“It has been a smooth day,” said Sainz afterwards. “We managed to complete all the run plan without any issues and I got my first proper feeling for the car.

“It was a bold statement from Williams to show the first lap of this new car to our partners, the media, and our fans and it went very well.”

Sainz and team mate Alexander Albon each covered 100 kilometres on the short version of the track which holds the British Grand Prix. Albon said he was “really happy” with his first impression of the FW47 ahead of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit at the end of the month.

“Normally this weather makes the car feel good, and it did today. We won’t know for sure what the car is like until Bahrain, but the car was reliable, and we put on a great show for our partners and fans, so I hope everyone enjoyed that.”

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Chief engineer Dave Robson said the team encountered some teething problems but they were able to begin exploring the car’s limits before completing the maximum 200 kilometres permitted on a promotional day.

“The car ran well and, having completed a few careful laps to check that everything was working correctly, we were able to push the car hard and confirm that there were no major problems,” he said. “Inevitably, we found a few very minor issues, but these will be quickly resolved before we arrive in Bahrain, and they didn’t affect the running today.

“In the cold conditions, and using the Pirelli promotional tyres, it is impossible to assess the performance of the FW47, however, the telemetry and driver feedback suggest that the basic characteristics of the car are very close to expectation and there are no immediate handling concerns.

Pictures: Alexander Albon in the FW47

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Carlos Sainz Jnr says he chose to join Williams last year because he decided to prioritise long-term performance over his 2025 prospects.

The driver who scored two victories last year hoped to find a race-winning car for this season after learning he would lose his seat at Ferrari. However he ultimately chose to join Williams, who ended 2024 ninth out of F1’s 10 teams.

“At the beginning, when I was having to take such an important decision, I was very focussed on which team was going to be quicker in 2025, who was generating more downforce, who is finding out stuff that is going to make them quicker,” he told Williams staff at a pre-season event with team principal James Vowles.

“Finally, I realised that my decision had to be based on two things: the project and the people. And when I started discussing in more detail with James, I realised that he had put together a very strong project here in Williams. He was forming a team with a vision, with a project together with Dorilton that I think is going to bring this team back to a front with very strong leadership and with a vision that immediately from the beginning made me fall in love with the project and trust his leadership.”

Sainz joined Ferrari from McLaren in 2021. He said McLaren’s potential was clear to him when he made the move, which emboldened him to put his faith in Williams.

“When I left McLaren, I really thought there was really good people there and that team could be world champions in the future. McLaren ended up being world champions last year and I said, okay, I need to trust my instinct.

“I know Williams have a good project, they have the backing and they have good people. And in the end, this combination of two things made me really believe in Williams.”

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Sainz began work for his new team on the day after last season ended, with a filming day at Yas Marina, followed by a day of testing. He said the team’s attitude impressed him, particularly after Williams mechanics endured many long nights at the end of the season repairing crash damage.

“The thing that I was most impressed about, if I’m honest with you, is just how motivated everyone was, even at the end of a year when we all know you went through a tough last few races,” he said. “There was a lot of hard work here at the factory, a lot of hard work at the track to get the two cars to keep going after such a bad run of crashes.

“I found people that were really enthusiastic and very motivated to work through those two days. And it’s not easy because the Abu Dhabi test is after a triple-header, [everyone is] very low in energy. I’ve done that test with other teams and I know how tired everyone gets at the end of the season at that stage.

“[But] I saw smiling faces everywhere. I saw people wanting to participate, wanting to collaborate, wanting to make that test as positive as possible. And honestly, I was extremely impressed by that and I really enjoyed the two days. It was the perfect way to go into the winter knowing I have full backing and I have everyone pushing flat-out [for] the rest of the winter.”

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