What Carlos Sainz told James Vowles about post Ferrari comedown in Williams talks

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Williams achieved surely the biggest coup of the 2024 Formula 1 driver market by signing Carlos Sainz. The three-time race-winner joins a team who currently sit eighth in the championship.

Ferrari informed Sainz in the winter that they wouldn’t renew his contract after reaching an agreement with Lewis Hamilton. Any hope of remaining at the front of the grid quickly evaporated.

Former team McLaren had agreed new deals with both drivers, while Sainz was third on Mercedes’ list behind Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli. Red Bull were confident that the world champion would stay and were wary of reigniting the tension from their junior team in 2015.

This effectively left Sainz choosing between Williams, Alpine and Audi, the bottom three teams in the constructors’ standings. After a protracted battle, it was James Vowles who won out, prompting a triumphant announcement at the start of the summer break.

Sainz will race alongside Alex Albon at Grove next year and has committed to a long-term project. Albon doesn’t expect Williams to win until 2027, a somewhat sobering reality for their new addition.

Vowles is intent on making short-term sacrifices for long-term gains as he tries to restore Williams’ status as a front-runner. This is a team who have 16 world championships and 114 races in their 49-year history.

James Vowles reveals how Carlos Sainz addressed his fears

During an appearance on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, host Tom Clarkson raised a potential concern around the Sainz move. He suggested that the 30-year-old may ‘struggle’ to adjust to ‘scrapping in the midfield’ after racing for Ferrari, which is the ‘pinnacle’ in F1.

Vowles admitted to having similar thoughts, but says Sainz addressed them during their discussions. He vowed to give the team ‘100% of everything’ once he committed to the project.

The former Renault driver is said to be enthusiastic for the rebuild ahead. Sainz will be available to leave Williams in 2026 under the terms of his contract if he hasn’t seen sufficient progress.

“I had that worry,” Vowles said. “And over one of our dinners, we had this chat and he was actually very good in how he answered it. He said, ‘no, the way it works is this. The second I sign, I give you 100% of everything. But what I’m doing is making sure that I am ready to give 100% of everything to this organization. That’s the delay’.

“So answering your question more directly, he will give everything to this team for it to be successful. And Ferrari is a part of his history that’s led to here.”

The driver who had a ‘contract in place’ to join Williams before Carlos Sainz move

Vowles showed his commitment to Sainz by waiting until the end of July, rather than moving onto a plan b. It was a risky strategy, but he felt it was worthwhile.

Likewise, the driver himself seemed to be holding out for a U-turn from Mercedes. They were pondering whether Antonelli was ready and he was the most realistic alternative.

Even on his FP1 debut at the Italian GP, the teenager was guilty of pushing too hard and hitting the wall early on. Carlos Sainz Sr was angered by Antonelli’s crash after Mercedes gave him a cart blanche.

Williams were ready to sign Valtteri Bottas if Sainz went elsewhere. In fact, Lawrence Barretto claims he had a contract in place before a late turnaround.