What Alex Albon said to Carlos Sainz after Williams move was confirmed

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Alex Albon is set to race alongside Carlos Sainz for the next two years after Williams confirmed the arrival of the Spaniard on Monday. It leaves James Vowles with one of the strongest midfield line-ups in recent memory.

Albon’s own Williams contract had been due to expire at the end of 2025. But he signed an extension earlier this season to affirm his faith in the project.

Sainz, meanwhile, has penned a multi-year agreement with the iconic Grove outfit to see him through to the start of F1’s new era. After competing for race wins with Ferrari, he’ll now take on a building project with Williams.

Albon has become accustomed to a team leader role since he joined in 2022. He’s comprehensively outperformed both Nicholas Latifi and Logan Sargeant, which has seen the team throw their weight behind him.

But there will be parity in the garage when Sainz arrives at the start of next year. Albon went up against Max Verstappen earlier in his career but this is also a mighty challenge.

In addition to his three race wins, Sainz has picked up five pole positions, 23 podiums and 1,444.5 points. He’s virtually matched one of the most highly-rated drivers on the F1 grid in Charles Leclerc.

Alex Albon welcomes Carlos Sainz to Williams

After Williams announced the arrival of Sainz on Monday, he joked to Albon that Vowles had formed an ‘appendix-less team’. Both drivers have missed races after undergoing appendectomies.

Sainz, of course, was sidelined for this year’s Saudi Arabian GP, with Oliver Bearman stepping in at Ferrari. And Williams had to turn to Nyck de Vries when Albon was ruled out of the 2022 Italian GP.

The former memorably won in Australia just two weeks after the operation, while Albon returned just as quickly in Singapore. In reply to his new teammate’s message, the Thai driver wrote: “Welcome to the team!”

Both drivers started their careers as Red Bull juniors at Toro Rosso. While Sainz left for Renault in 2017, Albon lost his seat alongside Verstappen at the end of 2020.

James Vowles addresses ‘Mercedes clause’ in Carlos Sainz contract

Some have speculated that Sainz’s stint at Williams could be brief. They suspect there’s a ‘Red Bull and Mercedes clause’ in his deal that allows him to move if they make him an offer.

Williams and Mercedes share a particularly close relationship. They previously ‘loaned’ George Russell for three years, while Vowles worked at Brackley as head of strategy.

But the team principal has denied that Sainz’s deal includes such an exit clause, insisting very few people know the details of his contract. He wants to paint this as a long-term acquisition.

One journalist has warned that Sainz may never race for a top F1 team again. If the frontrunners truly rated him, he says, they would have signed him this year.