James Vowles sends clear Carlos Sainz message before F1 ‘silly season’ ignites

Williams team principal James Vowles has declared that Carlos Sainz still wants to be a part of the team’s “journey.” The same is true for his teammate Alex Albon.

Vowles made that statement ahead of what could be a very active ‘silly season’ driver market this year. Williams stumbled out of the blocks somewhat in Formula 1’s new era, but has taken positive steps. Sainz has secured back-to-back P9 results. Vowles believes that the team is demonstrating that it is not the “Williams of old” in F1 2026.

James Vowles insists Carlos Sainz remains committed to Williams

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

From a troubled start to the season which saw Williams struggle to clear Q1, some progress has been evident.

In Montreal, round five of the campaign, Sainz made it to the third and final stage of Sprint qualifying. He finished P9 in both the Miami and Canadian GPs.

At the Canadian GP, Vowles was asked to pinpoint where the Williams FW48 has improved since the Melbourne season-opener.

“A little bit of everything,” he said.

“We have reduced the weight of the car. We’ve added a substantial aero package. So if I take Miami specifically, floor body work funnelling modifications. Modifications to the floor again took place in Japan before then.

“Between Japan and Miami, we had about 32 different work structures. One only was the aerodynamic package. All the other ones were how we’re going to bring performance to the cars.

“So, exhaust blowing. Here again, we’ve done more exhaust blowing, moved the exhaust into a different position as a result of it.

“Rear suspension improvements. Quite a bit of that is allowing us to run the car in a very different way. The one here allows us to have a much better balance through corner, for example.

“Different ways of using the turbo, using the power unit fundamentally as well. We’re still learning how to keep up, but we’ve done a much better job.

“If you look where we were in Melbourne, there was a big offset between ourselves and the works team, and that’s becoming smaller. Still not where I want it to be, but it is smaller now than it was before.

“It is, as always in Formula 1, never one silver bullet, but a whole bunch of them all coming together at the same time.”

Vowles added: “It is really important to me and to my board, so I’m not talking about the drivers, to demonstrate we’re not the Williams of old.

“The Williams of old would have been a difficult winter, and we would have languished back there.

“I want to demonstrate we have the capability to fight back up the field and add performance at a very high rate. We are doing this at the moment.

“It’s important to me, and it’s important to our board, because what it shows you is all the systems and fundamentals we’ve put in place are still good in that regard.”

Equally, it is important that Williams shows Sainz and Albon that the team is on the correct trajectory.

Sainz linked-up with Williams after losing his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton. He viewed F1 2026 as a critical milestone for that decision as the new regulations came into play.

The belief was that many drivers would assess the make-up of the F1 2026 pecking order before making plans for next season. This could trigger a particularly active driver market.

However, Vowles has no concerns that Sainz, or Albon, are losing any faith in Williams.

“Same with the drivers. The drivers aren’t here or interested in being just into Q3,” Vowles continued.

More on Carlos Sainz from PlanetF1.com

Carlos Sainz shares first impressions of new Madrid Grand Prix circuit

FIA and FOM urged to ‘be tough’ as F1 2027 engine split faces politics

“But they are interested in being demonstrated that we have facilities behind us that are able to fix and remedy problems when they come up, and I think that’s the main element.

“I think we’re on the right pathway for that, but we haven’t done enough yet.

“In terms of ‘silly season’, speak to Alex, speak to Carlos. They want to be part of this journey.”

With seven points scored, Williams sit P8 in the early F1 2026 Constructors’ Championship standings.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: BYD Formula 1 ambition raises major questions as Christian Horner talks emerge