The 2024 season is history. Formula 1 racing team Williams is preparing for a new era and is introducing a new sponsor.
The traditional British team Williams has presented a new sponsor for the coming season. The Spanish bank Santander is investing in the F1 racing team. The company had previously supported Scuderia Ferrari. The contract there expired at the end of this season.
This is a multi-year contract, Williams said in a statement.
The sponsor lettering will be visible on the 2025 FW47 car, helmets and team uniforms. The logo will also appear on the current racer, the FW46, during the upcoming tests in Abu Dhabi.
Newcomer Carlos Sainz will also be there. Next year, Williams will start a new era with the driver duo Sainz and Alexander Albon. Youngster Franco Colapinto will leave the team again after a short-term interlude.
Formula 1: Sainz attacks with Williams
Sainz was one of the hottest stocks on the driver market this year and was traded by several teams such as Audi/Sauber and Red Bull. But the Red Bulls apparently had no concrete interest in the still-Ferrari driver.
So the 30-year-old pulled the Williams card for two reasons. On the one hand, because he was definitely guaranteed a cockpit for 2025, and secondly, because the British racing team looked after him like no other interested party and gave him a good feeling.
“But I can’t express how much I felt that they wanted me at Williams. There was an enormous incentive to go to Williams. The team also worked hard to convince me. I’m happy about that just on this project, said Sainz, who nevertheless referred to his “many options and many possibilities” that he left aside for Williams.