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Vowles reveals Williams F1 title fight thoughts with his driver pairing
Williams team boss James Vowles has his thoughts on a Formula 1 World Championship battle as he believes the structure can be managed between Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz should the situation arise. Vowles has high ambitions for Williams, and he reveals some early title fight thoughts in the Nailing the Apex podcast.
Vowles is nearing the end of his second season in charge of Williams. There has already been positive signs of growth after the Grove-based team spent multiple seasons at the bottom of the Constructors' Championship. In 2023, they finished seventh, while in 2024, they are fighting with Alpine for 8th place. They are aiming for more when the new rules and regulations are introduced in 2026.
Are Williams prepared to fight for F1 titles?
In 2025, Carlos Sainz will join the team. The Spanish driver is a proven race winner with Ferrari, while Albon had some success with Red Bull earlier in his career. "There’s no politics between them, they both want the team to be successful, which means they’ll be pushing the team forward rather than fighting against each other. And that’s a very different dynamic when you’re inside a team, creating that," Vowles revealed in the podcast.
Sainz and Albon have both been on the podium several times. In the process, they have both raced for a top team (Red Bull Racing and Ferrari) and Vowles hopes to use those experiences at Williams. "What it means is we have the best possibility of creating the platform for them where we can move up to start fighting for championships. Now, have no doubt, when you’re fighting for a championship and you’ll see this time and time again, that is hard to maintain as a structure. But I think I have the two drivers where it’s entirely possible to maintain," Vowles concluded.
This article has been created in collaboration with Jeroen Immink
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