Williams Racing was once a Formula One powerhouse. They have won seven championships with seven different drivers and nine constructors championships in 17 years (1980-1997). Since 2004, the once-great team has won two Grand Prix. In 2004 in the Brazilian Grand Prix with Juan Pablo Montoya and in 2012 in the Spanish Grand Prix with Pastor Maldonado. It has been a long, difficult road for Williams, but now he has found some momentum going into the 2025 season with the most talented lineup in decades.
Williams major splash
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Williams has secured the biggest free agent in Formula One with the signing of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Sainz agreed to a multi-year deal with options to extend the contract beyond 2026. Now with Sainz and Alex Albon Williams, he is poised to make a run to the midpack and join the conversation with Aston Martin and RB. Sainz said in a statement:
I am very happy to announce that I will be joining Williams Racing from 2025 onwards. 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. 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
2024 has not been kind to the small team, only being able to earn four points thus far in the season, all of them coming from Albon. Signing a driver like Sainz is a major shot to the arm. The Spaniard has captured three wins in his career and earned 23 podiums. Williams has had one podium since 2020 in the 2021 Belgium Grand Prix, only running two laps under the safety car due to heavy rain. Williams team principal James Vowles voiced his excitement to the media in a statement:
Carlos joining Williams is a strong statement of intent from both parties. Carlos has demonstrated time and again that he is one of the most talented drivers on the grid, with a race-winning pedigree, and this underlines the upward trajectory we are on.
Three Seats Left for the 2025 Grid
With the Sainz signing, only three seats remain. The RB is likely to be filled by Liam Lawson. Red Bull has been praising the junior driver. The only question is, does Lawson take Riccardo’s seat for the Dutch Grand Prix in a few weeks, or do they allow Daniel Ricciardo to finish out the season?
The Mercedes seat that is vacated by Lewis Hamilton is still up for grabs; however, it appears Team Principal Toto Wolff seems to have narrowed it down to Kimi Antonelli and the Mercedes pipedream Max Verstappen. Antonelli is the hands-down favorite to take the second Silver Arrow seat. The question is, does Antonelli take Williams Logan Sargent’s seat for the second half of this year? That question should be answered by the end of this week.
The final seat up for grabs is the Sauber seat. Nico Hulkenberg is leaving HAAS for Sauber next season, and the second seat seems to be down to the current drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. Both drivers have zero points as Sauber is set to transition to Audi in 2026. Zhou technically leads Bottas in the points due to a higher finish, but Bottas has the winning pedigree and veteran prowess.
Perez is Still Safe For Now
The other big shoe to drop was the potential release of Sergio (Checo) Perez. However, earlier today, the Red Bull Team Principal came out and told the media:
Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver despite recent speculation and we look forward to seeing him perform at tracks he has previously excelled at after the summer break
Checo has been fighting for points the last number of months, missing out on the points in three of the last seven races. However, a great drive in Hungary saw him go from 16th to seventh and in Belgium stay in the points after falling from second to seventh. Helmut Marko Red Bull’s top advisor slammed Checo after Belgium:
That is not what we expected from him. He completely collapsed, especially in the last stint
That led people to believe Riccardo would get a second shot at the Red Bull seat; however, it is not coming to fruition for the Australian fan favorite. With Red Bull desperately wanting to get Lawson to Formula One, Belgium may be the final race in Formula One for Daniel Riccardo.
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