Sainz 'strategist', Albon 'perfectly up to the task', Vowles defines roles at Williams

The British engineer has been saying this for several months, Williams certainly has one of the most competitive driver duos on the grid in this 2025 season. Before the start of the weekend in Bahrain, the team was naturally among the most anticipated given the strong impression their results had left after the three days of winter testing carried out on this same circuit at the end of February.

After ranking 4th^e EL1 on Friday, Alexander albon fell somewhat into line at the end of the day, positioning itself at 11^e place in EL2 behind his teammate Carlos Sainz, absent from the first session in favor of the pilot of Formula 2, Luke Browning. Regarding the Thai, currently just behind Charles Leclerc and in front Lewis Hamilton the 5^e In the drivers' standings, James Vowles was full of praise for his driver this Thursday afternoon.

"I remember the day I joined him. I've known him since 2016, but the day I joined him (by joining Williams in 2023 Editor’s note), I think he'd been through a lot, that's probably the polite way to put it. Every year since, he's taken a step forward, and this year he hasn't made a single mistake. I can't fault what he's doing. He's absolutely up to scratch in terms of dedication. He knew he had to improve with Carlos in the car, and that's what he's done."

James Vowles delighted with Carlos Sainz's contribution despite challenges

Alongside Alexander Albon, who has managed to score points in each of the three races held so far, Carlos Sainz is struggling to adapt. In a context where the Spaniard's performances are regularly compared to those of Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, but also and above all to those of the many rookies, among whom Isack Hadjar and Kimi Antonelli managing to pull off their goals, James Vowles first calmed things down concerning his recent results.

"I've said it before, there are two ways to assess a driver's performance. The first is what he does in the car, and that will take time. Our car has a very different adaptation style to the Ferrari. He's getting there. I think Japan has already been a big step forward in terms of performance."

14^e Despite notable improvements in the race in Japan, Carlos Sainz nevertheless seems to be contributing to the prominent promotion of his teammate through his experience in areas other than just driving. For his team principal, his skills are also the reason for his recruitment.

“In terms of what he brings, even outside of the car, it’s faster because of the work and effort, the work ethic he’s put in and the way he’s really developing with the engineers. That’s why Carlos was my number one target., recalled the Briton. This is because he is absolutely brilliant at developing teams and he already brings that to our table. And then, as you saw, he's a part-time strategist, very good at it. It's partly thanks to the help he gave Alex that we have this number of points.

Although the Williams' performance nearly two months ago isn't a sufficient benchmark for approaching this weekend in Bahrain, the goal of scoring points in each race now seems clear. Salvation will come through gradual improvement and undermining work at Grove.

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