Williams send Carlos Sainz message with 26 new recruits added from F1 rivals

Carlos Sainz Williams Alpine move

Williams have sent out a clear signal of intent to number one target Carlos Sainz by announcing the arrival of 26 new staff members from rival Formula 1 teams.

The result of a major recruitment drive sees a number of senior staff arrive at Grove including the likes of Alpine’s former technical director Matt Harman who will join after the summer shutdown.

Williams announce major staff hires from F1 rivals

Five senior roles have been filled as well as the new position of chief information and analytics officer as the team continues to strengthen in the bid to move further up the grid.

Combined, the new recruits have 12 Constructors’ World Championships and 13 Drivers’ World Championships between them with more than 102 years of combined experience in the sport.

Matt Harman will join the team as design director, starting after the summer shutdown, and has previously worked at Renault, Mercedes and Mercedes’ powertrains division over a 24-year career in F1.

Fabrice Moncade joins as chief engineer, computing science on July 1 and was formerly head of performance analytics at Ferrari. Williams say Moncade has “pioneered modern-day lap simulation in F1” and worked on two title-winning cars while at Mercedes. He has also worked at McLaren, Sauber and BMW Sauber during his 17 years in the sport.

Juan Molina is the new chief aerodynamicist and starts on July 15. Previously principal aerodynamicist at Haas, he won three championship doubles during a spell with Red Bull and will report to Adam Kenyon who was promoted to head of aerodynamics in April.

Steve Winstanley is appointed chief engineer, composites and structures while former Alpine staffer Richard Frith will join in 2025 as head of performance systems.

Willaims confirmed the five names are part of a wider recruitment drive that has seen 26 new arrivals join from F1 rivals. Several were poached from Mercedes and Ferrari, four from Red Bull and 10 from Alpine, including Pat Fry who joined in November.

The team say there has been a particular focus on strengthening the aerodynamics team, with 11 hires, and in the design office with 13 new arrivals.

Williams have also appointed an AI expert in the form of Sorin Cheran who spent 17 years at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Cheran “will lead a transformation of how the team acquires, stores, indexes and uses data to build a best-in-class technology operation.”

James Vowles, himself a new arrival last year said: “I am delighted to welcome these six incredible people to Williams.

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“We are on a mission to fight our way back to the front and being able to attract experienced, Championship-winning talent from other teams demonstrates huge belief in the journey we are on. Williams is investing in what it takes to win, and this is just the start as we prepare to welcome more new faces from across the grid in the months ahead.”

Chief technical officer Fry said: “Williams Racing has bold ambitions and huge momentum, and these exceptional recruits show this is a project people want to be part of. We are adding strength in depth to the enormous talent already at Grove as we build for the future.”

Speaking in Canada, Vowles hinted that there would be a number of new names soon announced as having joined the team.

“We want the world to realise that we’re here and we’re serious,” he said in Montreal. “We’re investing what it takes to be back at the front in 2026. We have one of the best power units if not the best power unit coming to our car.

“We’ll announce shortly, I hope, but it’s around about 30 incredible people from other teams joining our organisation that we’ve been gathering across the last 12 months.

“The world is changing and someone like Carlos, who is very highly regarded in that regard in terms of the grand picture of where we are, of course the difference is he has the choice of whether he was coming here or not. And that’s his to make.”