Williams Team Principal James Vowles has dispelled speculation that Carlos Sainz is running an out-of-date chassis compared to Formula 1 team-mate Alex Albon.
Albon has had a stunning start to 2025, rising to meet the challenge of his Grand Prix-winning team-mate to lead the Williams charge.
Of the 17 points Williams has amassed so far – equally its 2024 tally – Albon has scored 16 of them, with Sainz admitting his struggling to get to grips with his FW47.
Post-race at Shanghai last weekend, the Spaniard said he was “A bit puzzled to be honest, not happy because ever since I jumped in this car I was very quick in testing so I don’t know where the pace has gone for this weekend.
He added: “[It’s] one of the strangest swings of performance I have had in my career, going from naturally super quick in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, even at the beginning of Australia and then suddenly the pace has just seemed to fall away from me.”
This led to speculation from within Spanish media that Sainz’s deficit was partly down to him running a modified 2024 chassis that had been crashed last year, while Albon has been running a 2025-spec chassis.
Both Williams drivers are on the same chassis – Vowles
In his latest Vowles’ Verdict, Williams’ team boss dispelled myths surrounding Sainz’s chassis.
“So a clear statement on this one, both Alex and Carlos are using exactly the same equipment, the same chassis, the same, front wings, the same gearboxes,” he said.
“Everything is of the same specification and standard.
“More specifically, the question was are we running a ‘24 chassis with Carlos.
“Both drivers are running an evolution of last year’s chassis, so it’s evolved exactly the same way, but we always intended to go through the last year of the regulations making sure that we are effectively evolving our chassis rather than redesign it from scratch.
“That’s really important because it allows us to put our eggs in an investment basket of 2026 and beyond, and it’s not a financial question, it’s time resource.
“We are all up against the cost cap but it allows us to reoptimize and make sure that we’re getting everything for 26 we can out of it.
“And we knew there was quite a bit of potential within the chassis, as a result of that, you can see we’ve moved up the field and I think there’s more performance to come from the package we have at the moment.
“I’d also add that I think a number of teams on the grid have done something quite similar to what we’ve done.
“Not all, but most would have done.
“So answering the question very specifically, both drivers are using exactly the same thing, so the evolution of the ‘24 chassis.”
READ MORE – Carlos Sainz ‘puzzled’ by career-first F1 problems at Williams
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