Guenther Steiner, former Haas team principal, is raising eyebrows over Williams’ attempts to bring in heavyweights like Adrian Newey from Red Bull and Carlos Sainz from Ferrari. He’s skeptical and labels the move as ‘wishful thinking,’ fearing Williams might end up ‘looking pretty stupid’ if neither deal pans out.
With Adrian Newey and Carlos Sainz both announcing their exits from Red Bull and Ferrari respectively, Williams’ team principal James Vowles has openly expressed his desire to lure big names to the team. Just days after news broke that Newey would leave Red Bull in early 2025, Vowles revealed at the Miami Grand Prix that he had some ‘very light discussions’ with Newey about a potential return to Williams. Simultaneously, it came to light at the Monaco Grand Prix that Williams has been in talks with Sainz, who will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari in 2025.
Steiner is taken aback by Vowles’ openness regarding the negotiations. He suggests that other prominent team principals, like Toto Wolff from Mercedes and Fred Vasseur from Ferrari, would be much more discreet. On the Red Flags podcast, Steiner commented, ‘A few weeks ago, Adrian Newey was going there. I don’t hear anything about that one anymore. I don’t think they’re rumors. James said them openly. It’s not a rumor. If the team principal says that he is speaking with Adrian, obviously the press picks it up. That is what the press are there for.’
Steiner continued to express his doubts, questioning whether Newey would actually choose Williams given his numerous other opportunities. ‘Does Adrian really want to go to Williams? I don’t know. Maybe he wants to, but Adrian has got a lot of opportunities out there. He can pick where he can go. I don’t know why he would pick Williams, but maybe they offer him something somebody else cannot offer him, maybe he gets half of the team [to own].’,’Reports from Italy suggest that Sainz could sign a one-year deal with Williams for 2025, with an option for an additional season, providing him with flexibility to pursue a Red Bull seat in 2026. Despite these discussions, Steiner isn’t convinced that Williams will clinch the World Championship next year even if Newey and Sainz are onboard.’,’Steiner emphasized, ‘If you just catch up after a while when you’ve had no success, [what is there to gain when you say] this is what you wanted to do and you didn’t achieve it? The results are the only thing that counts. But it’s not only in Formula 1, it’s in general, it’s in life. You can talk a lot of stuff and never do something. Maybe James will get it all and he’s World Champion next year, which I’m fine with. It’d make an interesting Formula 1. It’s difficult to predict that one and if I were a betting man, I wouldn’t be putting my money on that.’
He added, ‘You always speak with people. As a team principal, you speak with a lot of people but with some it’s just an exchange like: ‘What are you doing? What are you doing?’ It doesn’t mean that Carlos Sainz went to them begging for a cockpit. It’s right for James to ask Carlos: ‘Are you interested in coming to Williams? Let’s have a talk about it.’ Fred and Toto speak with everybody. They talk with sponsors, they talk with these great companies – but you don’t want to make that public because, if it doesn’t happen, you look pretty stupid. Maybe we will be surprised and Carlos and Adrian sign in the next few weeks. I’d be fine with that.’
Guenther Steiner is clear in his skepticism about Williams’ ambitious moves to secure Adrian Newey and Carlos Sainz. Only time will tell if James Vowles’ efforts will bear fruit, but for now, Steiner remains doubtful of their World Championship prospects.
Source: Planetf1
