Silverstone, UK — Carlos Sainz officially kicked off his Williams career with a successful shakedown of the FW47 at Silverstone, as the Grove-based team unveiled its 2025 challenger in a special livestream launch.
The former Ferrari driver, who swapped Maranello for Grove in a multi-year deal, took the new car out for its maiden run in a special livery celebrating new title partner Atlassian. Speaking to 2009 Formula 1 Champion Jenson Button immediately after stepping out of the car, Sainz was all smiles after completing his first installation lap.
“I can tell you everything went fine, which is good news,” Sainz told Button. “An install lap of a newly born car is always a bit tricky, but everything worked as it should, and now we’re ready to get into the run plan.”
The brief shakedown was designed to check system functionality before Williams progresses to more intensive testing. With no major issues reported, Sainz now shifts focus to fine-tuning the car alongside his engineers.
“Now, first I need to give the feedback to the engineers on the two or three things that I felt could be improved,” he explained. “The feeling inside the cockpit and everything I want to talk to them about.”
Adapting to Williams and Looking Ahead
The transition from Ferrari to Williams has been a significant one for the Spaniard, and he admitted his off-season was much shorter than usual due to the move.
“It’s been a shorter break, but also when you change teams that break becomes even shorter because you have to go back to work earlier,” Sainz noted. “There’s a lot of catch-up you need to do, and I’ve been spending quite a bit of time here in the UK getting up to speed with my new team.”
Williams is undergoing a major rebuilding phase under team principal James Vowles, who has emphasized that 2026 and beyond will be the real test of their progress. However, with Sainz and Alex Albon at the helm, 2025 could be a crucial step forward for the legendary British team.
With the shakedown complete, Williams will now continue with their pre-season preparations before joining the rest of the F1 grid for the official pre-season test in Bahrain (February 19-21).