Why Carlos Sainz arrival will make things ‘difficult’ for the Williams pit wall

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The arrival of Carlos Sainz into Williams for the 2025 season will likely require the team to adapt to having two star drivers.

Alex Albon has been the main points scorer for Williams since he joined them in 2022, but Sainz’s arrival is an important moment for the team that is attempting to recapture its glory years.

Team principal James Vowles pursued Sainz for several months before securing his signature ahead of the summer break, claiming that every team on the grid was after the Spaniard when he became a free agent at the start of the season.

The partnership with Albon is set to change the dynamic within the team after having American Logan Sargeant in the team, who has often been their number two given his inexperience.

Williams Chief Engineer Dave Robson believes it will take time for the team to adjust when discussing the impending arrival of Sainz with Racer.

Carlos Sainz will be ‘demanding’ says Williams engineer

Williams has suffered disappointing results so far after their promise last year, having stagnated in the midfield. They are still in the battle for seventh in the Constructors’ Championship, but face an uphill battle to catch up to Haas and Visa Cashapp RB.

Robson, who previously worked at McLaren with drivers including Jenson Button and latterly at Williams with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, expects Sainz will be one of the more ‘demanding’ drivers but it is likely to be a good thing as they improve their form.

“He’s going to be demanding I’m sure, which we need, but at the same time I know from my early time at Williams when we had Felipe and Valtteri, when you have got two drivers who are pushing each other and fighting for the serious points-paying positions, then it becomes much more difficult.

“It’s just an order of magnitude more difficult on the pit wall when you’ve got two cars directly racing each other. There’s no reason to think that it’s going to end up being bad, definitely not, it’s going to end up being good, but it’s definitely going to be different to what we’ve kind of got used to.”

Carlos Sainz had concerns before joining Williams

The reason for the long period of talks between Sainz and Williams was because of the concerns he had about their overall project compared to the other offers he received.

Vowles said it took a lot of convincing to lure Sainz away for the prospect of racing for other marquee brands in F1, before eventually settling on a deal reportedly worth £8.5 million per-year.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height

The Spaniard was also courted by Alpine and Audi, the latter of which was willing to offer Sainz a lucrative deal that even Red Bull could not match.

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said he could not understand Sainz’s move when he was given contracts from manufacturers, while Damon Hill believes Sainz could always move back to Ferrari if Lewis Hamilton decides to retire early in F1.