Williams boss James Vowles is certain the team will have a “combination of the best drivers on the grid” in Formula 1 when Carlos Sainz partners Alex Albon in 2025.
The Grove-based squad announced during the summer break that it had beaten Alpine and Sauber/Audi to acquire Sainz’s coveted signature on a multi-term contract.
Vowles had pinpointed Sainz as his prime target since last December as he endeavours to deliver on his long-term aspiration to return Williams back to the sharp end.
Williams has invested in near to 250 new recruits since Vowles was appointed prior to last term as it bids to hit the ground running once the regulations reset in 2026.
Vowles believes that being transparent with Sainz about where Williams’ shortcomings are and how it plans to address those in the future was vital to convincing him.
“I think what got it there eventually is that from the very beginning it was the same message all the way through Carlos,” Vowles said.
“You went all the way back to 2023, here’s where we are, here’s the really bad bits, but here’s the good bits, here’s what got the line.
“And I think across a period of about eight months he could start to see what he was translating, what was happening behind the scenes.”
Vowles told media including Motorsport Week last month that he considers Sainz, who will leave Ferrari, to be as good as the second-best driver on the grid at times.
The Spaniard will come in alongside Alex Albon, who has a long-term deal, to assemble what Vowles believes will constitute the most compatible line-up on the field.
Asked whether Sainz’s arrival will place an added demand on Williams to deliver, Vowles replied: “Yes, but that’s the whole point behind it.
“I mean, not just a good driving line-up. I think I have the best or a combination of either the best drivers on the grid, there’s no politics between them.
“They’re both incredibly fierce competitors, but they develop a team, they’re leaders at the same time.
“That will put pressure on the organisation. That’s the whole intent behind it.
“It’s been many years that we’ve really had two drivers fighting in the front, and you need that to reinvigorate the energy back into the team, too.
“When you’ve got two drivers fighting that thing for a second, and I’ve been there quite a bit in my career, everything just shuttles off, it just absorbs it.
“So, applying new details around, even just diff maps, how you get data around how you use it, and particularly upgrades, they migrate and change, so it’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”
Meanwhile, Vowles is also anticipating Sainz’s impending arrival to inspire Albon, who has thrashed current team-mate Logan Sargeant, to reach even greater heights.
“I think, with Alex, you haven’t seen him fully challenged to the level where if you would like any elite athlete, you have to have someone that moves the bar beyond where you thought it was set in the sand, and then it pushes you forward again,” he added. “And not in a dramatic way without politics, but just, here’s where performance is, let’s go find it.
“And with Alex, you’ll see a very differently invigorated individual as a result of it. So I think you’re going to see a better Alex.”
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