Williams boss James Vowles has been able to highlight several positive impacts new Formula 1 hire Carlos Sainz has had on the team.
Sainz revealed in the aftermath of the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix that he signed a multi-year deal with Williams, ending months of speculation over his future after Ferrari named Lewis Hamilton as his 2025 replacement before last year’s campaign had even begun.
The Spaniard was able to get his first running in a Williams car in December, driving the FW46 in the post-season test at Abu Dhabi and has since been busy getting integrated with the team at its Grove headquarters.
Sainz was also handed the honour of running the first laps in the FW47 as Williams launched its 2025 campaign at Silverstone on Friday.
Vowels, speaking to select media including Motorsport Week at Williams’ launch, was able to point to several benefits of having Sainz in blue.
“[He has] a really good way of working with Alex [Albon], especially when we look at control systems, so differentials, brake maps, etc,” Vowels began.
Vowels continued by adding the experience of Sainz over the youthful exuberance of 2024 super-sub Franco Colapinto also has its benefits.
“[Sainz] brings a whole new dimension where Franco, for all of his skill in the car, obviously we were almost teaching him along the way what the control systems do.
“We now have an expert in it that has won races, and that’s really brought the team upwards.
“Same with starts. Think of all the ancillary items, so not even driving the car. I can just see a dimensional change in how we’re performing from where we were before to where we are today.”
Sainz’s Abu Dhabi test brought ‘good news’
Sainz jumped from a race-winning Ferrari to a Williams machine capable of a handful of points in just a day.
Vowels spoke of how important it was to get the Spaniard’s comparison and was buoyed by knowledge Williams is heading in the right direction in terms of development.
“It was incredibly useful and powerful having him testing with us in Abu Dhabi because we were able to understand where our weaknesses lie relative to a car he’d driven just a few days before but had winning potential, and more importantly, make sure that the direction of travel that we’re in, which I’m pleased to say is correct, was on the right pathway,” Vowels explained.
“Carlos, when he tested in Abu Dhabi, gave us very instantaneous, correct feedback on all the areas we have to improve on.
“The good news is it’s aligned with ours, and even more good news is there are areas where we have active mechanisms in place to rectify.”
The knowledge of Ferrari’s prowess carried into Williams’ Friday launch and Vowles said “What [Sainz has] done this morning is, again, he knows what excellence looks like.
“He was in race-winning categories last year, in a car that was a benchmark for the whole of the year, so he brings that with him.
“But what he’s very good and able to do is digest that in a way that is clear and simple, so we don’t get lost, and it’s directed.”
The emotional impact Sainz has had at Williams
Beyond technical aspects, the arrival of a multiple-times GP winner at Williams has had a profound emotional impact at Williams.
Vowles said the mere presence of the Spaniard has brought with it a wave of positivity at Grove, one that Alex Albon has contributed to in spades as well.
“I see an organisation around me that is smiling, happy, whose shoulders are lifted because they can see a pathway forward towards success, and that very much has Carlos’s and Alex’s names written all over it,” Vowels said.
“This will not be successful if any one individual is above the team, that’s whether it’s myself, Carlos or Alex.
“It needs all three of us, and then a thousand individuals pointing the right way with the sole goal of this team becoming championship contenders.
“And that means along the journey, there’s going to be one driver or one individual that is doing worse one weekend or the other, they’re aware of that, and we’ve already had that very direct chat about it.
“They’re very much in that mindset, furthermore, they came up with suggestions and ideas of how actually we can make this better.
“They’re alive with it, they know where they are, they know where we’re going, and the bigger goal is how to move the team forward.”
READ MORE – Carlos Sainz reveals run in Williams 2024 F1 car was ‘better than expected’
