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James Vowles has acknowledged feeling blessed to have both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon on his team. The Williams Racing team principal detailed how both drivers have shown they can perform at a high level.
The Grove-based outfit, a once dominant force in F1 in the 90s but more recently confined to the back of the grid in recent years, signed Sainz to partner Albon in its driver lineup for the 2025 season. This move by Williams appears to be yielding fruit quickly, with the team already eclipsing its points tally from 2024 (17) within the first four races of the 2025 season (19).
This rather impressive showing by both drivers has led Vowles to express how “blessed” the British outfit feels to have them on the team. On the latest episode of Vowles Verdict, as shared on the Williams F1 X account, the 45-year-old said:
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“What you can see now is Carlos has very much made a step, and Alex all year long has shown that he is absolutely performing at the highest of levels. So we are blessed to have two drivers. The car is still in a positive form in terms of performance. It is still quick, and there's a lot we understood from Bahrain that should help us going to Saudi.”
The Williams team heads into the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit aiming to improve on its Bahrain performance—a race in which it failed to record any points for the first time in 2025. Carlos Sainz, for his part, will hope to add to the team’s tally, having scored just one of the 19 points Williams has accumulated so far.
Carlos Sainz responds to critics after starting at Williams
Carlos Sainz did not hold back his thoughts regarding the criticism he has come under amid his start to life at the Williams team. The former Scuderia Ferrari driver has struggled to live up to the lofty expectations set for him by many following his move to Williams.
The 30-year-old, through his four races, has only completed two and recorded two DNFs, mustering just one point in the process. However, during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, Sainz, when faced with questions about his start to life at his new team, claimed that his critics do not understand the sport.
He told the media via Autosport:
“If you expect to see the best of Carlos Sainz at Williams in the third race in a new car, you don’t understand the sport very well.”
Sainz's words come amid growing comparisons between his performance and that of his teammate Albon, particularly as fans seek to establish a pecking order between the duo. The expectation was that the Spanish driver had joined the Williams team with widespread belief that he would dominate Alex Albon, but so far, there has been no semblance of that.
Carlos Sainz will now set his sights on an overall improved outing at the Saudi Grand Prix, a circuit where he recorded a podium finish during the 2022 edition of the race with Ferrari.
