Analysis
Formula 1
Why Williams thinks it has secured F1’s second best driver on his day
Williams details why it has signed Carlos Sainz, how he will transform the team and why it was surprised Red Bull and Mercedes both let him slide by
Jonathan Noble
Published: Jul 31, 2024, 11:07 AM
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Williams team boss James Vowles has enjoyed plenty of highs in his Formula 1 career – including having helped Brawn and Mercedes to world championship titles.
But he has no doubts that his team’s capture this week of Carlos Sainz for 2025 and beyond marks the proudest moment of his career.
Along with the huge vote of confidence that Sainz’s decision delivers for the vision that Vowles has for Williams, he can hardly believe that he has been able to get hold of someone he rates so highly. In fact, his belief that Sainz is one of the very best drivers in F1 makes him a bit taken aback that race-winning teams like Red Bull and Mercedes did not go for him.
Asked if was surprised by that call, Vowles said: “Yes is the short answer to it, because I rate him as one of the top four drivers, if not, at times, the number two driver on the grid. Why wouldn't you want that in your stable?
“My view of things is that fundamentally, competitors are getting closer and closer. So [look at] the marginal difference that a driver can make, and I don't just mean in performance terms.
“Look at Carlos and look at every team he has been in. They have improved significantly.”
Vowles said that he was so eager to get the Sainz deal across the line that he spent untold time speaking to him on the phone – so much so that he jokes his partner Rachel Rolph began to question what was going on.
James Vowles, Team Principal, Williams Racing
Photo by: Williams
“I get why, after spending the last nine months talking to him [Sainz] at least weekly, if not daily in truth, Rachel, my partner, has been very, very confused as to our relationship together relative to mine with Carlos,” smiled Vowles.
“But what I've realised with him is that he is a performance machine. He absolutely will do everything it takes within his power to not transform just himself but the team around him as well at the same time. And that's powerful. That's worth more than what he can drive the car at.”
It's this extra benefit that Vowles thinks should have been enough to convince Red Bull or Mercedes to go for Sainz – even though he thinks they may have alternative reasons as to why they did not.
“When you're in Red Bull's position, where you've got a constructors’ championship at risk, it's always a hard decision,” he said. “But yes, I would have Carlos alongside Max.
“If you're in Mercedes, it's a hard choice. But I think they've swayed between not being competitive, in which case it makes sense to invest in the future, to being very competitive. And now it's a harder decision as to whether you invest in known entities or unknown.
“But that said, if Mercedes has made that decision, they have far more information than I do. It's more than likely that they're very confident with the direction that they'll be traveling in; whether that be Max [Verstappen] or Kimi [Antonelli], I'm unsure.
“But my point is, they're not fools. They've made this decision sensibly, and if Red Bull have decided to do this again, there's reasons behind it that I won't be aware of, because they are multiple world champions, so they don't make decisions lightly.”
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, leads Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, and Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
What Vowles sees in Sainz is not someone who is just brings a lot of speed with them; it is an individual who, he thinks, can make a wider impact at the team.
“I really do believe in what we're doing, the direction of travel, and why it will be successful,” he said. “I believe the same around Carlos as well - if you're going to go for an individual that's going to make the difference.
“I'm not just focused on how quick he is in the car. I'm focused on how he is as a personality – and this also includes how his entourage is.
“That includes Carlos his manager, and Carlos his father. His father is as performance-driven as Junior. He's an incredible character, and the three of them together come as a package, and that's what we need here in Williams. I think the fit is absolutely perfect.
“They are the exact words I told them from the very beginning to the very end of this journey.”
There had been some rumours recently that Sainz’s arrival at Williams would be commercially beneficial as well because he would bring with him some sponsors.
Vowles says it is not strictly the case – although he anticipates the performance lift coming to be a catalyst for fresh commercial interest.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
Photo by: Ferrari
“The real commercial benefit of all F1 teams, by the way, is just performance,” said Vowles. “If you make your car quicker, or if you have drivers that push your car, or drivers pushing each other and pushing the car, that in turn provides you championship position and sponsorship income.
“That that is the secret sauce of how to run a F1 team: fundamentally you treat it like a startup. You've got to put your finances into a driver, or two drivers, really, in the circumstance that you know will be pushing the team forward.
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“It's not like you have immediately, overnight, the phone ringing and someone's offering you 20 million. That's not how it takes place, but it is part of the journey that makes its way through.
“What I can say is we have existing sponsors that we've been talking to for six months, and for them, it may or may not have been the extra trigger that pushes them across the line. But it's not that it's suddenly you take all your deals and you up them by a percentage fundamentally.”
For Vowles, the future has never been more exciting.
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