Carlos Sainz Lands New Role For 2025 After Williams Signing

Carlos Sainz has been named the new director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), following his final season with Ferrari last year. This comes weeks after he arrived at Williams' Grove headquarters, as he prepares for the 2025 season with his new team. With a decade of Formula 1 experience, Sainz is seen as a strong addition to the GPDA leadership group. He joins George Russell, chairman Alex Wurz, and Anastasia Fowle in representing the drivers' interests.

Sainz ended his four-year stint with Ferrari after the team signed seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 season. The GPDA's presence in the sport is meant to be a platform for F1 drivers to address subjects of common interest. Welcoming Sainz, Wurz shared a statement on Instagram:

"We are delighted to welcome Carlos as a GPDA director. He has been an active and engaged member of the GPDA for several years and we sincerely appreciate his commitment in stepping up to this vital role."

Sainz added:

"I am passionate about my sport and think we drivers have a responsibility to do all we can to work with the stakeholders to forward the sport in many aspects.

"So I'm very happy and proud to do my part by taking on the directors' role in the GPDA."

This comes as the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has clamped down on driver conduct and swearing. The FIA has recently introduced a new penalty system for driver swearing, including extensive fines, which multiply for repeat offences, championship points deductions, and racing bans.

Sainz recently shared his thoughts on the issue, acknowledging that while swearing during press conferences is inappropriate, he is unsure whether heavy fines or race penalties are necessary. He said during the Williams FW47 launch event at Silverstone:

“My thoughts are that F1 drivers should be controlled enough doing press conferences and media appearances to not swear.

“And I am in favour of us, as a group, making an effort when all the kids are watching us in a press conference or in front of the media to at least have good behaviour and decent vocabulary. I think that’s not very difficult.

“So do we need fines or do we need to be controlled for that? I don’t know, but I’m in favour of always being well-spoken and well-mannered in front of microphones and in front of media.”

Raising the issue of F1 drivers swearing, Ben Sulayem said in 2024:

“We have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music.

“We're not rappers, you know. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That's them and we are [us].

“I know, I was a driver. In the heat of the moment, when you think you are upset because another driver came to you and pushed you…

"When I used to drive in the dust [and something like that happened], I would get upset. But also, we have to be careful with our conduct. We need to be responsible people.

“And now with the technology, everything is going live and everything is going to be recorded. At the end of the day, we have to study that to see: do we minimise what is being said publicly?

“Because imagine you are sitting with your children and watching the race and then someone is saying all of this dirty language.

“I mean, what would your children or grandchildren say? What would you teach them if that is your sport?”