Vowles says securing Sainz was a “major event” for Williams
Williams boss James Vowles admits that the process of getting Carlos Sainz to commit to the team was a “rollercoaster” – and he says that he didn’t believe it was realistic until the contract was actually signed.
The Grove team announced on Monday that Sainz has agreed to a long-term deal, having turned down firm offers from Sauber/Audi and Alpine.
Vowles says that discussions about bringing Sainz to Williams first started in Abu Dhabi last year, long before Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari made the Spaniard a free agent for 2025.
He thought a deal was close around the time of the Spanish GP, only for the team to have a poor race weekend, and in effect delaying Sainz’s decision.
“The moment it looked realistic is when his pen hit the paper, that’s the only time I thought it looked realistic,” said Vowles. “I got stung earlier in the year around Barcelona time.
“I thought we were in a very good state, and that’s on our shoulders. We had a shockingly bad event, and you can’t do that in professional sport.
“But from the perspective of the ups and downs, it’s been a tribulation up and down all the way through from I would describe it as Monaco onwards I think, it’s probably the right timeline.
“But it’s been a rollercoaster, that’s for sure. But it hasn’t been a rollercoaster for any more than actually, the driver market has been really up and down.
“There’s no teams that have properly been committing or deciding their direction of travel right at the front, and that includes right up until now, last weekend. where there’s still discussions over where does Perez go, what changes there?
“And when you have that instability, it’s completely normal that a driver won’t commit to you until such point as they know what their future holds and what doors and avenues are closed. That’s my opinion of it. So as I said, until pen hit paper, I wasn’t comfortable.”
Vowles admitted that beating a major manufacturer like Audi to secure Sainz’s services was a major coup for the team, and reflects its potential for improvement.
“I think it’s a huge, huge event for Williams to have two of the best drivers in the world fighting at the front,” he said. “And I think it is very much a sign of things to come, the fact that we are prepared to have the investment required to be there.
“And a lot of it you can’t see. The one that you can materially see is what we’re doing by effectively putting money where it should be, into the best drivers that are available to us.
“In terms of beating an OEM, and one of the largest in the world, I’m incredibly proud. I said it to him on this, it’s one of the proudest moments of my career, and I’ve had lots of great moments my career.
“The fact that he chose us above all else is a huge, huge, monumental decision. Then, on top of that, we have to be straightforward. Alpine are ahead of us on points this year, and on points ahead of us last year as well, I recognise all of that.
“What he’s not buying into is ‘25, what he’s buying into is what can we provide over the next two years, and what’s the direction of travel.”
Vowles worked hard to convince Sainz that Williams will be a much stronger force heading into 2026 and beyond, having explained why the team will have a difficult time during the building process in 2024-’25.
“I think the first thing is, the conversation has been many months,” he said. “It hasn’t been weeks of which you’ve been privy to some of it, because it’s been a bit more public than I would normally do with a driver discussion, but it actually started way back in Abu Dhabi last year. And the message I gave to him and to his family at the time is no different.
“The message I gave him last weekend in Spa, to be clear. And 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 what’s coming. Here’s why I’m excited by this project, and it’s your choice if you want to be a part of it. But 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 that honesty and transparency has paid off.”
Vowles says Sainz in turn kept him fully informed of his thought process in terms of the pros and cons of the competition, thus giving him a chance to state the case for Williams – but he insists without criticising rivals.
“He’s been very consistent on his messaging from the beginning,” said Vowles. “I’ve really loved this process. I wish we could have sort of documented it, and had a little camera, and you would have seen it!
“It was great. He and I have spent some evenings in various hotel locations, including his room, at times, where we’ve had some of the best chats I’ve had, because he’s just this fiery, performance-filled entity. It’s just brilliant. I wish you could be a fly on the wall to observe it.
“And he’s been pretty consistent in his messaging back, which is here are all the positives that you can’t see because you wear a William shirt of all these other entities. And my job back in return is to say, here are the positives of Williams, and here’s the difference.
“I’ve never changed on what those positives are, and I’ve done it in a way that is not putting down other entities.
“I don’t believe that’s correct, or right to do so. And what he’s been doing in time is seeing how some of those positive strands maybe don’t exist elsewhere. That’s probably the best way I can put it to you.”
Adam Cooper F1 