Williams Racing has positioned Carlos Sainz as their top target for their 2025 lineup alongside Alex Albon, significantly sidelining current driver Logan Sargeant. James Vowles, the team principal of Williams, has not shied away from declaring his admiration and high regard for Sainz, particularly praising his exceptional victory at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix—a win that stands out as the only non-Red Bull victory of that season.
The Spanish driver’s impressive resilience was further witnessed at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, where despite a crash in Q2, he managed a formidable comeback in Q3, outperforming his teammate. Speaking during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, Vowles commented, as quoted by Planet F1:
“Number one target is Carlos.
“He’s a race-winning driver that last year, against all odds, beat Max in Singapore with a brilliant drive and that’s not the first time.
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“He’s intelligent in how he approaches things, logical, incredibly quick. What he did this year in Shanghai, it’s going to sound like a negative, it’s not, in qualifying he crashed and we’ve all been there to a certain extent, it’s an impressive athlete that can reset themselves, go back out and then beat your teammate [sic] in that condition.
“And I think that shows you just how strong he is as a driver. I think any team on the grid would be fortunate to have someone like Carlos alongside them.”
Williams Racing has historically been a powerhouse in Formula 1, boasting 16 titles. However, recent seasons have seen the team struggle, finishing last in four of the past six seasons. Since transitioning from Mercedes, Vowles has initiated significant changes and financial investments aimed at revitalizing the team’s performance. He envisions creating one of the most formidable line-ups on the grid, with Sainz potentially leading the charge.
“The main thing is this, there’s a reason why I left Mercedes to come here.
“This isn’t the Williams of old. And I think first and foremost, the fact that we are having Sainz on our list will certainly show you this isn’t how we performed of late. We are prepared to have a driver line-up that I think is going to be one of the best on the grid if it’s achieved.
“That’s a different era that we’re going into. We’re investing 10s, if not hundreds of millions to make this team back to where it was in terms of success.
“And this is just part of the reason why I’ve changed [teams from Mercedes]. There is in the background, a number of really great signings that will slowly start edging out into the world over the next few weeks.
“But this really is a good journey. We’re now starting to see the hard work that started 12 months ago come into play. And that gives me every reason to be confident that we’re moving forward.
“Williams also was a team that was 10th for many years. Yes, last year was seventh and we started this year poorly. Keep an eye out for us, we’re now starting to put performance on the car race by race. This is a different entity to what it was before.”
Williams has already confirmed a contract extension for Albon on a ‘multi-year’ basis, however, Sargeant’s current contract is due to expire at the end of the year and it is looking increasingly likely that he will not secure an extension with the British team.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.