Ted Kravitz reacts to Williams boss interview snub as FIA reach Sainz verdict

Sky F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz claimed that Williams boss James Vowles rejected an interview request at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The grounds for that snub, as per Kravitz, was the FIA investigation into Williams driver Carlos Sainz which was ongoing at that time, with Vowles not wanting to speak when Sainz potentially could have lost third on the grid. Kravitz was not too convinced by that reasoning. Fortunately for Sainz and Williams, the stewards took no further action, and he starts a fantastic third.

Ted Kravitz claims James Vowles Las Vegas GP interview snub

It was new territory for the drivers as they tackled Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying in the rain. That, combined with the cold temperatures, made for a very slippery track which began to dry as qualifying went on.

Sainz would excel, putting his Williams at the head of the second row. He did though have a nervous wait for that P3 starting spot to be confirmed, as the FIA stewards investigated his near miss with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll during Q1.

Fortunately for Sainz, the stewards took no further action, and he was cleared to line-up P3 on the grid behind polesitter Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

During that wait for the all-clear, Williams team principal James Vowles had refused an interview, as per Kravitz.

During his ‘Ted’s Notebook’ show, Kravitz said: “James Vowles declined to be interviewed for our programme, saying, ‘I don’t want to be interviewed when we could have the third taken away.’

“Okay. He could have just said, ‘I’ll do the interview, and I’ll say, Well, this is all pending, the stewards investigation.’ But, he didn’t want to do that.

“So, that’s why you didn’t hear from James Vowles today, if you wanted to.”

More Las Vegas GP qualifying reaction via PlanetF1.com

👉 Winners and losers from the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying

👉 Lewis Hamilton data reveals all after bruising Las Vegas GP qualifying

It was a happy ending for Williams and Sainz, who was loving life at the wheel of the FW47 under the Friday night lights in Sin City.

“It was a very good lap. I thought it was a pole-worthy lap,” Sainz reflected. “When I closed the lap, I saw myself in P1, and then I realised I was the first car across the flag.

“Maybe that was not going to last very long with these two guys [Norris and Verstappen] coming behind, but it felt like a really good quali.

“If anything, I think we were more competitive on the extreme wet in Q1 and Q2. I wish it would have stayed ex-wet because that was the tyre that gave me the best feeling and the best confidence. Every time we were hitting the board, we were P1.

“But yeah, on inters I was expecting to go slower given our FP3 performance wasn’t great, and in the end it turned out to be just fine. But yeah, in the end, it couldn’t be.”

On his Las Vegas race weekend so far, Sainz added: “I’ve had a good feeling. It’s just been very disrupted and we’ve never been able to show ourselves or show our pace in the top of the timings.

“Obviously in the dry, I don’t think we would have been more than P6, P5, P7, P8, in that range. The wet allowed us today to shine a bit more and to lead through stages of Q1, Q2 and Q3. I don’t think in the dry that would have been possible, and I don’t expect if the race is dry tomorrow to be able to hold on to P3. But I think in the wet, we were definitely quick.”

Read next: How Lando Norris got away with a big mistake on Las Vegas GP pole lap