The uncompromising Williams vision that Sainz was sold

By landing Carlos Sainz to partner Alex Albon, Williams is confident it has one of the strongest line-ups in Formula 1. What is the vision that Sainz and Albon have signed up for?

Speaking days before Sainz’s deal was announced, team boss James Vowles shared a conversation he and the Spaniard had about the Ferrari driver’s long delay in finally picking a team for 2025.

“Here’s what he told me, which actually resonated the most: ‘The reason why I’m doing this is when I commit, I need to commit with all my heart and my soul, 100% – and to do that means I can’t have any doubts’.”

Sainz ended up turning down the work-in-progress factory drivers at Audi and Alpine for an even bigger work-in-progress at Williams, which Vowles is rebuilding from the ground up.

So what is the vision that has swayed Sainz to commit the prime of his career to Williams, which has scored just four points this season?

“The fact he chose us about all else is a huge, monumental decision,” Vowles said. “We have to be straightforward. Alpine are ahead of us on points this year. They were ahead of us last year as well. I recognise all of that.

Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“What he’s not buying into is 2025; what he’s buying into is, what can we provide over the next two years, and what’s the direction of travel?

“It is monumental to beat these two incredible organisations [to Sainz’s signature], but what Carlos recognised from us, and much of it you won’t see, is what we’re changing on the inside.

“I believe that’s what’s won it from the beginning, I gave him warts and all; here’s what’s going to happen. We are going to go backwards. Here’s why, here’s what we’re investing in. Here’s why I’m excited by this project, and it’s your choice if you want to be a part of it.

“I know that we will have success in the future, and I know it’s going to cost us in the short term, and I’m confident that honesty and transparency have paid off.”

Vowles has unapologetically focused all his attention on 2026 and has been given the crystal clear mandate from Dorilton to ensure the team is in the strongest possible position then, weeding out short-term thinking that leads to taking shortcuts, which will only come back to haunt the team on the long term.

That has meant a ground-up rebuild of the team’s processes after years of underinvestment, and a huge recruiting spree which is still ongoing to bolster its Grove facilities, which are also receiving investment.

“We have to recognise as well that the competition is fierce this year, and that with just a few points to our name, that’s not a good reflection of where we would like to be,” Vowles explained.

“As strange as this sounds. I’m not worried about it. Because I’ve said from the beginning, everything we are doing is investing in 26 and beyond. And a lot of what we’re doing at the moment is really quite invisible under the surface, but it’s changing fundamentally the technology’s there, the culture and the people at Williams.

Logan Sargeant, Williams FW46

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Recently Williams announced it had recruited as many as 26 senior staffers from the likes of Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and Alpine, and Vowles said he had attracted over 250 people since he has been in charge.

“I didn’t know where to draw the cut-off because if I’d done the [announcement] a week later it would have been 30 already.

“We’ve hired close to 250 across the last 17 months. Those are key senior hires from other F1 teams that will make a direct impact from the moment they join.

“Of the other 26 hires, I think 11 are within aerodynamics, which was about 50 people or so. And when you’re bulking it up by another level, that gives you an idea of how much growth we have as a result.

“When I joined the team, we were about 700 people. The livery on the car in Silverstone [on which the names of all Williams members formed a Union Jack] had 1005 names on it.

“That’s Williams today, and that’s not the end of our journey by any stretch of the imagination.”

“You don’t do that by coincidence, you do that because people believe in what you’re doing.

“People see that Williams isn’t there just to make up the numbers anymore.”