James Vowles: “Carlos Sainz knows what lies ahead. He can make the difference”. Williams team principal James Vowles spoke to Sky about signing Carlos Sainz.

A surprising team change
Carlos Sainz’s move to Williams, following his dismissal from Ferrari in favor of Lewis Hamilton, was undoubtedly one of the most surprising transfers of the 2024 market. It’s rare to see a top driver, capable of winning two races in 2024 and securing at least one victory per season over the last three years, transition from a leading team to the second-to-last team on the grid.

The Spanish driver had to make the best of a challenging situation, as he did not receive attractive offers from the other two top teams that changed drivers at the end of the season: Mercedes and Red Bull. Ultimately, the Spanish driver opted to join Williams, choosing them over other mid- and back-grid options. James Vowles, team principal of the Grove-based team, expressed his excitement about bringing one of the top drivers on the grid into the team.

Confidence in the project
Carlos Sainz will need to embrace the reality of a tough and transitional 2025, but James Vowles hopes – as communicated to the #55 driver – that the situation could turn around by 2026 with the arrival of the new technical regulations: “What we can do is this: he [Sainz] knows what lies ahead in 2026, 2027, 2028. We’ve given him some indications about all of this,” James Vowles told Sky Sports F1.

“Of course, we are far behind where Ferrari and McLaren are, the teams he was with before, but we have an environment where he can make a huge difference. That’s what motivates him more than anything else. Every time I talk to him, he asks me, ‘Have you thought about this? Should we do that? What direction should we take?’ I think he sees the future potential, and that’s what drives him.”