‘May the odds be in our favour’ – Williams outline Carlos Sainz chances as big decision looms

Williams’ James Vowles says he’s hopeful of confirming his second driver over the coming days, with Carlos Sainz the key target.

The team boss at Williams has been completely transparent in his desire to secure the services of Carlos Sainz, with the Spaniard the hottest available prospect on the driver market as he leaves Ferrari at the conclusion of the 2024 season.

James Vowles chasing ‘excellence’ Carlos Sainz will bring

Speaking to select media, including PlanetF1.com, ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, Vowles addressed the topic of drivers for the 2025 season as speculation swirls the Spaniard has already signed for the Grove-based squad.

PlanetF1.com spotted Sainz’s father, Carlos senior, and manager Carlos Onoro exiting the Williams motorhome during the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, and Vowles made no secret of the fact he’s hopeful of tempting Sainz to sign on the dotted line for 2025.

With the summer shutdown coming into effect on the Friday following the Belgian Grand Prix, Vowles said he’s hopeful of having the deal in place and ready to confirm by then.

“Tentatively, yes. I think I’ve already said before going into the summer break, yes,” he said.

“I think there’s a line in the sand that I’ve created and I hope it’s one that we remain within.”

Elaborating on his desire to have Sainz on his team, as a replacement for the struggling Logan Sargeant, Vowles spoke of Sainz’s Singapore win last year as being indicative of the level of driving he would bring to Williams.

“I’m open-minded but I want excellence within the team. I want excellence from the team, and race-winning performance within the team,” he said.

“I want individuals that are leaders and, in other words, they’re established on their way here. So out of all those, at the top of the list, is Carlos.

“In adversity last year, he won a race, and he did it in a very intelligent way against some of the best individuals – that includes Lando and Charles. He beat them, and he brings excellence along with him.

“That is where my heart is set. And let’s see if the journeys collide.”

As for what is holding up securing Sainz, Vowles addressed the tug-of-war that is currently being played out behind the scenes as Sainz weighs up the prospect of joining Sauber ahead of its takeover by Audi for the 2026 season – Alpine is also understood to be a leading candidate for Sainz’s services.

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Speaking about the conversations he and Sainz have had already, Vowles said he’s been very impressed by the deliberation Sainz is taking and that he completely understands why the Spaniard is taking his time.

“It’s interesting conversations he and I have had pretty late into a few nights, presented from both sides,” he said.

“My perspective is this – I’m aware I’m wearing a William shirt, but I believe so much in what we’re doing.

“That’s why I left Mercedes to come here. That’s why I’m talking to all of you with the amount of passion I have, I believe in everything we’re doing here.

“I’m in it day to day, and I can see the changes day to day. If I gave you a handful of individuals from our team and said to talk to them about how it was 12 months ago relative to today and what’s going to be there in 12 months, the positive stories would just flow out.

“That’s why I’m positive about it. With Carlos, he can’t see much about that – what he looks at is what you can see externally. ‘Where are you? Where do you qualify? Why did you have a bad race here? What’s going on here?’

“He has one of the largest OEMs in the world chasing him [Audi], and that’s hard to turn down, an OEM that his father has won with.

“He has a team that has, let’s be clear about it, historically beaten us fundamentally [Alpine]. That becomes hard to turn down. They won a race not that long ago.

“I can see that perspective on things.

“Here’s what he told me, which actually resonated the most – ‘The reason why I’m doing this is when I commit, I need to commit with all my heart and all my soul – 100 percent. And, to do that, means I can’t have any doubts’. And that’s why it’s taking the time. And that resonated with me, a lot.”

Confirming that he would not be interested in signing Sainz at the cost of putting him on a contract that would allow him to leave at any time, Vowles said he reckons the odds of securing Sainz are “more than 50 percent”.

“How’s that?” he laughed.

“How confident am I? I think the odds are in our favour. But I’ve been stunned by this already once this year.

“So let’s see, may the odds be in our favour.”

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