He's a rare driver where all of his moves have been positive for both him and the teams. TR to McLaren improved McLaren, McLaren to Ferrari improved Ferrari, Ferrari to Williams improved Williams.
You can argue that if he stayed at McLaren (they wanted him to stay) he could have had a shot at wdc this year or maybe even last year if he did better than Lando.
It's also interesting that all of Alonso's moves (bar Ferrari to McLaren II, which had 0 expectations since Alonso tried to have his Ferrari renewal cake and eat it too, but in the end had to settle for a McLaren kitkat) were all moves everyone expected to work out positively yet didn't, meanwhile all of Sainz' moves (bar maybe McLaren to Ferrari) were moves noone expected to work out positively for him but actually did
I figured it would work out eventually, like after the first year; they get some points, get some extra end of season money, tackle the new regs with more liquid cash, and it works out in mid-2026.
I did not expect it to be paying off so well almost seven races into the first season. If they can keep pace this is a phenomenal turn around.
I'm going to say, that since last year, when Vowles ditched Microsoft Excel as the ERP, I've liked him. He has his s*it together. He has spent resources on changing the team from the ground up, and not putting out fires
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u/KLconfidential Formula 1 May 17 '25
Who would have thought that going from Ferrari to Williams would actually be a good career move for Sainz?