Carlos Sainz starts new job alongside Williams F1 role after Ferrari exit

Carlos Sainz has been elected by his fellow Formula 1 drivers as the new director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA).

After being ousted from Ferrari, replaced by Lewis Hamilton, Sainz is gearing up for a season with added duties. He has joined Williams and now has an additional role to fulfil along with his usual duties for his new team.

The Spanish ace, who is revving into his 11th year in the sport, will serve alongside Mercedes' George Russell as a GPDA director. Former F1 driver Alex Wurz is chairman, while lawyer Anastasia Fowle is also a director.

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

Wurz, an ex-Williams and McLaren racer, chimed in with a brief statement of his own, which read: "We are delighted to welcome Carlos as a GPDA director." He praised Sainz's years of active engagement within the GPDA and his commitment to the directorial position, reports the Express.

Sebastian Vettel, the former holder of the director role, hasn't raced since hanging up his helmet at the end of the 2022 campaign. Despite whispers of a potential F1 comeback or a stint at Le Mans 24 Hours, and even a link to Porsche, nothing has materialised for the four-time champion just yet.

Sainz made a surprise shift when he left Ferrari and despite sparking interest from top teams like Mercedes and Red Bull, he decided to join forces with Williams. He will partner Alex Albon to form a driver line-up which team principal James Vowles has described as the strongest on the grid.

Vowles told talkSPORT of his remarkable impression of Sainz during post-season Abu Dhabi testing: "So first of all, Abu Dhabi, the rate he got up to speed was mind-blowing to me," he said of his new signing. "It was really just a handful of laps before he was second on the timesheets and held it there all day."

"His feedback is more concise than I expected - really brilliant, sort of very good at distilling information in a way that you can understand concisely and then find in the data later as well as a result of it."

Not only has Sainz impressed on track, Vowles emphasized his impact on the team spirit, adding: "He has the ability with just a few words to bring our team to absolute celebration. So I knew bits of them, but it's good to see all pull together."