Carlos Sainz makes Williams ‘upgrade’ quip as Albon meets his match

Will Carlos Sainz bring an improvement to Williams in F1 2025 and beyond?
Carlos Sainz has wasted no time in implementing an upgrade at the Williams team by suggesting a new name for his partnership with F1 2025 team-mate Alex Albon.
Sainz is gearing up for his first season as a Williams driver, having been forced to make way for seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari for F1 2025.
Carlos Sainz suggests ‘upgrade’ to shared Alex Albon moniker
With Ferrari agreeing to release the Spaniard early from his contract, Sainz made his on-track debut for Williams at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi in December.
Sainz was back on track with his new employers on Sunday as Williams staged a private test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with the new signing sharing driving duties with Albon, preparing for his fourth full season with the Grove-based team.
Sainz’s latest Williams appearance in Barcelona came just four days after Hamilton’s second Ferrari test ended with a huge crash at the Spanish Grand Prix venue.
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The 30-year-old established a healthy relationship with team-mate Lando Norris during his two-year stint at McLaren across 2019/20, with the pair often referred to by the moniker ‘Carlando’ – a fusion of the drivers’ first names.
Despite a memorable flashpoint at last year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, Sainz also enjoyed a mostly fruitful bond with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari between 2022-24.
Sainz is expected to strike up a similarly productive partnership with Albon at Williams, with both drivers carving out respectable F1 careers after emerging from Red Bull’s junior academy.
The pair are yet to decide on a name for their alliance, with Albon recently captioning a photograph of himself with Sainz as ‘Thai Sweet Chilli’ – a witty nod to his own Thai nationality and Sainz’s ‘chilli’ nickname – on social media.
In a clip posted to Williams’ social media channels, however, Sainz called for the name to be “upgraded” and offered ‘Carbono’ as an alternative suggestion.
The full exchange unfolds as follows:
Sainz: “We need to upgrade it to Carbono.”
Albon: “Carbono? Yeah, I like that.”
Sainz: “I think Carbono is the upgrade we need. Carbonara is cool, but it’s too much, too funny, in a way. We need something a bit more serious and aggressive. I think Carbono.”
Albon: “I agree.”
More on Carlos Sainz and Williams
Williams recently confirmed that their new car for F1 2025, the FW47, will be launched at Silverstone on February 14, four days before Formula 1’s first-ever collective season-launch event in London.
The FW47 will appear in a special one-off colour scheme at the British Grand Prix venue, with teams understood to be barred from showcasing their permanent liveries for F1 2025 until the O2 Arena extravaganza on February 18.
Williams announced ahead of Sainz’s first test in Abu Dhabi that Spanish bank Santander has joined the team’s portfolio of sponsors for F1 2025.
Santander previously sponsored Ferrari for most of Sainz’s tenure at the Scuderia, having previously backed fellow Spanish driver and two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso, now of Aston Martin.
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