Vowles on Sainz and Albon: Neither one has any politics

Vowles managed to secure Sainz's services for Williams, who will boast a solid driver lineup in 2025 despite being backmarkers as the former Mercedes strategist continues work transforming the team with the target of pushing them up the F1 grid.

While Albon has had several teammates who could not really challenge him, Sainz will be different. The Spaniard is a highly rated driver and was able to go up against Charles Leclerc at Ferrari in the past four years when they were Ferrari teammates.

And while Sainz will definitely push Albon, Vowles is not worried about matters becoming political. He said, quoted by Motorsport.com: "One of the elements that are great with Carlos and Alex is that neither one has any politics.

"They don't have a political bone, they just want the car to be quick and they want to perform the best that we can within that environment.

"They both know the challenges of '25, but the real crux of it is looking forward to what we have in 2026 together," the Williams boss went on. "So what I'm expecting is insights into where we're strong during the week to what I already believe and what Alex already believes.

"What I'm expecting is leadership that with just a few words is able to lead the team in the right direction as we're moving forward as an organization.

"What I'm expecting is an individual that will give me everything when any given race begins, because we're here to make this team successful."

While he is yet to experience Sainz's performance within the team, Vowles has known Albon for some time and heaped praise on the Thai driver.

"What I love about Alex is he's a leader," Vowles added. "When things get difficult, he pulls forward, irrespective of what the circumstances are, and lifts the team back up to emotional strength.

"He was the one encouraging us to get Carlos into the building because he's not worried about a challenge, he wants us to be successful.

"He's had a frustrating year himself," he said of Albon's 2024 season. "Reflecting on all that, Alex is the driver that I know he can be and I think next year he'll reset, start again and he'll be strong from the beginning."

And as to what he expects from Sainz, based on what he has seen, Vowles explained: "What I see with Carlos, does he fight hard? Yes. But is it clean? Also yes. It's very clean racing.

"They're not doing it by knocking the wheels off each other's cars. They're doing it by, if one of them is faster than the other one, they can race.

"And we're in that situation as well. What I've always had a rule of is, it's fair to race. It's no problem to race, but you don't hit each other, you don't push each other off track. You do it as a sportsman, you do it clean, respecting the brand that you're representing.

"When I look at [Sainz and Charles Leclerc], there was some radio jibber-jabber across the last few races. That's normal," Vowles commented on Sainz's relationship with Leclerc. "One driver will always be frustrated by what it is. But as long as you create the right environment where they know this is the way we can race each other.

"And there will be points where I say, you can't. We need to bring this result home. Because the result is more important than where you individually finish. That's a very different situation to be dealing with.

"But if you have two drivers pushing each other, it's typically that you're getting the absolute most out of them. What is great about Carlos is, despite his future being different to what it is today, you're seeing Carlos fight for everything.

"And that's one of the strengths he has," Vowles, who joined Williams in 2023, concluded.