James Vowles says he is fortunate to have Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon as Williams drivers

Vowles joined Williams in 2023 and set out rebuilding the once-champion Formula 1 team, and while Albon was there when he arrived, the former Mercedes strategy boss managed to lure Sainz, who was looking for a seat after Ferrari decided to replace him with Lewis Hamilton ahead of the 2025 season.

Albon has shown that he was a safe pair of hands for Williams, while Sainz—despite a rocky start to his life at Grove—managed two podiums in 2025, which meant the team finished fifth in the Constructors' Standings.

And while Vowles has a lot of issues to sort out at Williams, who have had a disastrous start to their 2026 season with a late and overweight FW48, he is satisfied with the drivers he has had.

"Two brilliant drivers," Vowles said of Albon and Sainz. "I'm really, really fortunate and brilliant from this perspective. No politics, no ego. They deserve to have an ego, but they don't.

"They really give everything, and they want Williams to be successful as I do as well. And so their commitment is more than just driving the car. It goes from truly beyond that," he added.

Delving further into his drivers' qualities, the Briton explained: "In terms of Carlos, his communication with engineers is the best that I've worked with.

"He has this ability to really bring into what he's feeling when he's in the car and link it to the data at the same time.

"In terms of Alex, he has this natural ability to, especially in changing conditions, which is what you saw in Melbourne and a few others; you just get the most out of him and the most out of others as well. They all have different skill sets.

"What I would say with Carlos and Alex is above that; they don't have any baggage," Vowles added. "What they want is the team to be strong.

"And what they do as a result of that is, whether they've had a bad day or not, the best example I can give you is Alex was there by my side at the podium when Carlos was there.

"I don't know any other driver on the grid that would do that, but he's centered around Williams, and he doesn't bring baggage from his bad day.

"And for clarity, he was ill that weekend and still gave everything he possibly could to it," the Williams boss concluded. (Source: Interview with Frankie Langan)