Fresh doubt over Carlos Sainz to Williams as Eddie Jordan bemoans ‘raw deal’ for F1 2025

Carlos Sainz has joined Williams for the 2025 F1 season

Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan has cast fresh doubt on Carlos Sainz’s proposed switch to Williams for the F1 2025 season, insisting the move “won’t happen.”

Sainz remains without a seat for F1 2025 after being informed over the winter that he will be replaced by seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari at the end of the season.

Carlos Sainz to join Williams for F1 2025? Eddie Jordan reveals doubts

The Spaniard responded by producing his best-ever start to a season in F1 2024 – culminating in his victory at the Australian Grand Prix, a fortnight after being ruled out of the race in Saudi Arabia with appendicitis – but Sainz has seen opportunities at Mercedes and Red Bull close over recent weeks.

PlanetF1.com revealed ahead of last month’s Monaco Grand Prix that Sainz is no longer under consideration by Mercedes for the time being, who are prepared to promote 17-year-old sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Hamilton’s successor for F1 2025 if the team are unable to lure reigning three-time World Champion Max Verstappen from Red Bull.

Meanwhile, Red Bull announced ahead of last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix that Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez has signed a new two-year contract, tying him to the Milton Keynes-based outfit until the end of the F1 2026 season.

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Sainz’s options are now believed to be between Audi, who have courted the 29-year-old for some time and are believed to have offered him a lucrative contract, and Williams.

James Vowles, the Williams team principal, has been open about his pursuit of Sainz, even claiming in Montreal that it is an “easy decision” to join the Grove-based squad, with the team “serious” about returning to the front of the grid in the coming years.

Appearing on the Formula For Success podcast alongside former McLaren and Red Bull driver David Coulthard, Jordan – who famously predicted Hamilton’s switch from McLaren to Mercedes at the end of 2012 – has claimed Williams will find it “tough” to recapture their former glories in modern F1.

And he is adamant that Sainz’s move to the Mercedes customers “won’t happen” despite Vowles’ growing confidence of signing the outgoing Ferrari star.

He said: “For some time, Alex Albon is somebody that I think is a fabulous talent.

“When Frank [Williams] and Patrick Head were there, and when Adrian Newey was there, they were the team to beat. They were absolutely awesome.

“So to see them where they are now is a little bit of a pity, it’s a shame.

“Can they bounce back? Of course. Anyone can bounce back. However, it’s a much tougher job these days, because it’s geared with finance.

“Carlos Sainz is tipped to go there. Do I see that happening? Honestly, I don’t see that happening. It won’t happen.”

Jordan went on to suggest Sainz will feel “slighted” at being replaced by Hamilton at Ferrari, having established a productive partnership with Charles Leclerc since replacing four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel in 2021.

He said: “Carlos is in a flux.

“He must feel very, very disappointed to have been shown the door by Ferrari, because I don’t think he did anything wrong.

“And he looked right, he acted right, he won races for them – for heaven’s sake, what more could he have done?

“I feel very slighted and if you were Carlos Sainz, you’d feel slighted.

“What’s the point in taking Lewis Hamilton on when we have a very strong, structured team, which is youthful, strong, ambitious?

“I just think Carlos Sainz has had a raw deal.”

After the surprise signing of Hamilton, Ferrari have been heavily linked with a move for F1 design guru Adrian Newey, who confirmed last month that he will leave Red Bull in early 2025 having orchestrated the team’s success with the likes of Verstappen and Vettel.

Coulthard believes the signing of Hamilton will bring significant pulling power to Ferrari, adding: “I guess that’s the power of Hamilton and the belief that Ferrari have that he will be a catalyst to bring other things.”

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