James Vowles goes behind the scenes of Carlos Sainz signing for Williams

From the end of last season, while Lewis Hamilton had not yet signed with Ferrari, James Vowles only dreamed of one pilot to support Alexander albon for the next seasons. Seduced by the Spaniard's burst of speed, as much as by his technical contribution to the different teams for which he worked, the main team of Williams achieved its goals by announcing at the beginning of last week the signing for several years of Carlos Sainz.

This was the end of a long and difficult process, which began about nine months ago on the Yas Marina side. “The first time I spent time with his family was in Abu Dhabi”, entrusted Vowles to the website of the Formula 1. “We had to bring them through the back so they could go upstairs and talk in my office without being seen. It was the first time I spoke with each of them, and it was the first time I got to know them.” 

James Vowles and Carlos Sainz, first contacts in Abu Dhabi

At the end of his contract with Ferrari, Carlos Sainz's priority was to remain in red, an eventuality then highly probable given his good performances in 2023, marked in particular by a victory won in Singapore. “It was Abu Dhabi 2023, so no one knew what was going to happen with Carlos, added Vowles. What I did was make sure they were aware of our desire to return to the forefront and that we had started the process, also that they got to know me. Then the news broke with Lewis, which took me by surprise, and took Carlos by surprise at the same time. I therefore began the normal negotiation procedure.”

A godsend for the Englishman, who then decided to go all out. He then used the same method he uses with the press: stick to the truth, as much as possible, and not try to fool anyone. “Throughout the process, everything I told him is the truth behind this project, which means all the good and all the bad. Everything was consistent from start to finish. This is who we are, this is what we invest in, this is why I believe in it, this is what it will look like in the future – do you want to be part of it?”

“I believe in this project; I left the comfort of Mercedes to come here for a good reason. We have a history that makes us the second most successful team historically on the grid, we have concrete investors who seriously support this project, we want success and this is what success looks like. Fundamentally, we cannot say the same thing upstream and downstream of the network, at the same level and with the same requirements. And I think if no one takes this as a sign that Williams has changed, nothing will ever change.".

Very happy to announce I'll be joining @WilliamsRacing next season! Excited about the project and the challenges ahead of us! 💪🏻

It's easy to announce that the year I've come to be united with @WilliamsRacing! Enthusiastic with the project and with the feedback we love for… pic.twitter.com/oUg5IexunR

- Carlos Sainz (@ Carlossainz55) July 29, 2024

Carlos Sainz, for his part, was obviously won over by the enthusiasm of the Briton, and by his desire to place him at the center of the project, which he ultimately never was in his career in F1 while he is about to turn 30. Vowles publicly pampered his priority target, by multiplying declarations of love in the media, even if it meant revealing his game and taking the risk of suffering a failure in public. He did well, since Carlos Sainz, who ended up understanding that Red Bull and Mercedes ultimately had nothing to offer him, so put his name at the bottom of the contract that was offered to him.

A victory for James Vowles and an accelerator for his project to rehabilitate the second team in F1 history: “ It's huge, it's really important to allow us to move forward. Emotionally, it all felt worth it in a matter of seconds. This is a big milestone and it means a lot to me and the team. We played the team a video of Carlos announcing the news and we couldn't hear a word of it for at least the first 45 seconds because of the cheers, screams and applause. This reaction tells me all I need to know, which is that they believe in this decision as much as I believe in it. But now I have to show him, the team and the world that we are on the right track.” The hardest part has only just begun.

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