Ferrari are in a strong position to enable Lewis Hamilton to fight for his eighth Formula One world championship, according to their former driver Carlos Sainz, who was replaced by the Briton this season. Sainz has joined Williams for 2025 after three years with Ferrari, including last season when the team finished with a very competitive car and claimed second place in the constructors’ championship.
The Scuderia let Sainz go having secured Hamilton’s services to drive alongside Charles Leclerc and the Spaniard, at the launch of the new Williams FW47, said his former team are capable of enabling Hamilton to make a title tilt in his debut season with Ferrari. “When I left Ferrari I did feel the team and Charles were ready to fight for a world championship and with Lewis joining that chance is only going to increase,” he said. “When I look at Lewis’s results and his background and what he has achieved, I can only say that there will be a very high chance that he is going to be competitive for Ferrari. But like everything, it will all depend on how well he can adapt to the car and how well he can adapt to the team.”.
Williams finished ninth out of 10 last season and are still in a process of rebuilding, with their sights set on the regulation changes in 2026 to really enjoy the fruits of their labour. However Sainz, his Thai-British teammate Alex Albon and the team principal, James Vowles, were all confident they had made significant steps forward with this year’s car, and expected to be more competitive in 2025.
Albon also noted there was no little disquiet among drivers over the FIA’s recently announced rule amendments that will impose heavy fines for swearing and that may even lead to race bans. “There’s definitely been discussions about it. We’re still ongoing about how we want to set out what we say around it,” he said. “It is a delicate matter – do we think it’s right? Of course not.”.
The FIA’s stance may lead to confrontation later in the season. The clampdown is understood to have been led by the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and last year it provoked fury from Max Verstappen when he was given a community service punishment for swearing in a press conference. The drivers responded by demanding the FIA treats them like adults. At the Williams launch Albon noted he did not believe drivers should be “monetised” by the FIA. Last season, when they demanded to know where the money from fines was spent, Ben Sulayem said it was “none of their business”.
