Williams has already set its sights on Carlos Sainz for the end of the 2023 Formula 1 season in Abu Dhabi – there have even been secret meetings, as James Vowles reveals
I spent time with his family for the first time in Abu Dhabi,” says Williams team principal James Vowles, who has signed Carlos Sainz for the 2025 Formula 1 season. The secret meetings were the first contact between Williams and the Spaniard, who had to look for a new cockpit following Lewis Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari.
“We had to sneak them in the back so they could come to my office,” continued Vowles. “Then I spoke to all of them for the first time. It was our first face-to-face meeting. We hit it off straight away because they have very similar family values to mine.”
“It’s about honesty, about performance on the race track without politics and about achieving the best possible results with the resources available. That suits both sides,” says the team boss, who was ultimately able to convince Sainz of the Williams project.
“Nobody knew what would happen with Carlos,” Vowles recalls of the time after Ferrari signed Hamilton. “But I wanted to make sure they knew we were serious. Then the news from Lewis came and surprised me as much as Carlos. And then I started the normal negotiation process.”
“More late nights in hotel rooms than I would have liked. Lots of phone calls. He had a lot of time to think,” says the team boss about the negotiations with the Spaniard, who weighed up all the options before making a decision. “If you had accompanied me with a camera, you would have seen the emotional rollercoaster ride of the last few months.”
“There were moments when it was all but certain,” says Vowles. “Then there were moments when we weren’t strong enough to make it. But over the past few weeks, maybe the past month, he and I have built a really strong relationship. He understands what we do and how we do it. “
Williams went all-in!
Williams has even publicly expressed his interest in Sainz, adding emphasis to his plan. “You can look like a hero or a fool,” explains Vowles. “That was always clear to me. But I wanted him to know how much I believe he is part of the future of Williams. And you can do that if you wear your heart on your sleeve and show it to the world.”
But even if the negotiations had failed, it would not have been a disaster for Williams, as the team wanted to sign a top driver for the premier class at the time. “If things had turned out differently, I would have had no regrets,” said the team boss. “You have to do everything you can to bring the right people into the team. It’s hard to say what the alternative would have been if it hadn’t worked out. But it was worth it.”
Honesty was the key to success, according to Vowles, as he showed Sainz both the positives and negatives of joining Williams. The team occasionally finishes in the points, but the racing team is not currently one of the top teams. “This is us, this is where we invest, this is why we believe in it and this is what it will look like one day,” were Vowle’s arguments.
Williams wanted a leader
“I believe in this project. I left my comfort zone at Mercedes and came here for a good reason,” the team boss continued. “We have a history as the second-best team in the field. We have investors who are serious. We want to be successful.”
“And you can’t say all of that to the same extent and in the same way about [other teams] in the paddock,” Vowles clarifies. “And if nobody takes that as a sign that something has changed at Williams, then it doesn’t help.”
But why did Vowles want Sainz so badly? He has a clear answer to that: “I needed a leader. Someone who is not just fast in the car. I want everything around the driver to fit so that performance can result.”
“Carlos has these skills,” says Vowles. “You only have to look at the teams he has driven for so far: where were they at the beginning, where were they at the end of his time there? You can see that: The teams were always better off at the end than at the beginning.” For a long time, Vowles did not believe that he would be able to land Sainz despite the difficult sporting situation at Williams, but his project and his communication have probably worked a small miracle
