Jun.12 (GMM) Williams boss James Vowles is increasingly confident Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon will remain committed to the Grove-based team’s long-term project.
Sainz’s second season at Williams has been more difficult than many expected, but Vowles insists the Spaniard remains fully invested despite ongoing speculation linking him with future opportunities elsewhere.
“No, I’m not worried, and that’s for two reasons,” he told Spanish reporters in Barcelona.
“I think the winning teams – and there aren’t many of those right now, just one or two – have a solid team and no intention of changing it anytime soon.
“But also, Alex and Carlos have already invested a lot of their time in making this the team they want it to be. It’s their team, and that’s not something you’ll find anywhere else on the grid.”
“They want to continue with it, and that’s unique.”
Vowles said transparency with both drivers has helped build trust through a challenging period.
“We’ve had frank conversations from October of last year, when I started noticing problems, until January and March,” he revealed.
Albon is underlining his commitment to Williams in Barcelona by using a special helmet inspired by Nigel Mansell, marking the Thai-British driver’s record as the longest-serving Williams racer.
Meanwhile, Vowles revealed Williams is already placing significant focus on 2027, even as development continues on the current FW48.
“The 2027 car is currently the priority from an aerodynamic point of view,” he said.
“That’s what most of my engineering team is focused on.
“The engineering work to eliminate all the weight from this car is already done. Now the focus is on the future.”
He added: “The tricky weight situation is actually going to give us great performance until the end of the year. So it’s a good area to focus on. That’s what I call ‘free laptime’.”
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