Carlos Sainz is set to make his Williams F1 debut a day earlier than expected after leaving Ferrari.
Sainz agreed a deal to drive alongside Alex Albon from 2025 after losing his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton, with the Spanish racer released by Scuderia boss Frederic Vasseur to sample the FW46 in the traditional post-season test, which takes place on the Tuesday following the season-finale.
However, Sainz will now make his debut for the Grove team 24 hours earlier - this being on Monday 9th December.
Williams has booked the Yas Marina circuit for one of its two allocated filming days which allows 200km of running, about 35 laps of the 5.2km track.
This will allow Sainz to get teething troubles such as his seat fit and pedal positions sorted before the official post-season test starts.
It is expected he will run in a typical Williams race suit, but as he remains a Ferrari driver until December 31st, it will not feature any Williams sponsor.
Sainz will be joined in the test by Williams rookie Luke Browning, who will drive in FP1 in place of Alex Albon.
Hamilton will not be driving for Ferrari in the test, as he has sponsor commitments for Mercedes before his departure, meaning his first taste of a Ferrari F1 car will be in the new year, most likely at the Fiorano test track.
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