James Vowles doubles down on bold Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon claim

Sam Hall

10 Nov 2026 4:30 PM

Williams team principal James Vowles backed the championship-winning potential of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.

Williams has been one of the worst-performing teams in F1 this season, but Vowles does not believe the drivers should shoulder any of this blame.

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz ‘know how to win’

The F1 2026 season has been humbling for Williams after the team openly stated that it hoped to be regularly challenging for the podium positions ahead of the new regulation era.

As Williams look to recover in F1 2027, the team will field an unchanged lineup for the third season running, with Albon and Sainz remaining in position.

Asked if he’s happy with this partnership, Vowles told Sky F1: “Yeah, as I’ve said all the way through the lineup we have.”

However, he then took things up a notch, stating: “I remember actually very distinctly. I said to Martin [Brundle], it’s a driver lineup that can win championships, and I remember Martin’s eyebrows went out.

“I still mean it. I absolutely believe that they are not holding us back today.

“They are leaders. They are from championship teams.

“They know how to win races and be on the podium. We need to provide a car that brings them to that level. But I’m incredibly happy with Alex and Carlos.”

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While it is true that both drivers have been with teams that have won championships, Albon was dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2020, although remained with the team the following year as a reserve driver as Max Verstappen ended the team’s wait for its first title since 2013.

Looking at individual honours, Albon has two podiums to his name for finishing in third place while Verstappen scored two wins and nine further podiums in equal machinery.

As for Sainz, the Spaniard is a proven race winner and could count himself unfortunate to have his Ferrari career cut short when Lewis Hamilton decided he wanted a new challenge.

Although with race-winning pedigree, it cannot be suggested that the Ferrari team with which he raced could be considered a ‘championship team’ given that the Scuderia is without a title of any kind since 2008.

Focused on an improved F1 2027 campaign, Vowles seemed to play down expectations of the gains that his team may make.

“We turn up at every event with the motivation, drive, and passion that we had early in the season to score every point possible,” he said.

“What I’m more indicating is it’s just a much harder task now, but it doesn’t mean that the team isn’t motivated.

“Actually, I’d be surprised if you didn’t look round and find people actually surprisingly in good spirits.

“They can see what’s coming in the future, but our goal still to the end of the season is to make sure that our last point scored wasn’t a few races ago.”

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