Williams F1 shares more video of Carlos Sainz Jr.’s first day at the team’s headquarters

Formula 1 teams continue to roll out their new drivers ahead of the 2025 season.

Ferrari’s lengthy introduction of Lewis Hamilton is just one example, but another comes from the man Hamilton replaced at the Scuderia, as Carlos Sainz Jr. finds his way around his new team at Williams. The team already shared a brief video of Sainz’s first full day at their Grove headquarters, but now Williams has released a longer video from that day of work.

In the nearly 20-minute video you can see Sainz get in some simulator work, participate in his seat fitting, and then meet with team members alongside Williams Team Principal James Vowles, and talk about why he chose Williams last summer.

“At the beginning, when I was having to take such an important decision, I was very focused 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,” described Sainz.

“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 also spoke at length about his first experience driving for Williams, which came at the post-season testing session following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The veteran driver outlined how that experience made him feel as if he truly made the right decision, given the energy that was still present in the garage at the end of a long season.

“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,” recalled Sainz while addressing team members. “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, [and 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.

“[However] 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.”

You can see the full video from Williams here:

No word on if Sainz finally tried those bacon and sausage wraps, however.