Bad News for Carlos Sainz as James Vowles Sends a Brutal Update on the State of Williams

After Ferrari replaced Carlos Sainz with Lewis Hamilton, many rumors as to where he would end up started surrounding the paddocks. From Red Bull to Audi, Sainz is looking everywhere to find a competitive car. Among the names of possible winning teams, including Mercedes, Williams has become a name that the Spaniard has been recently linked with. Will this mean that Sainz is heading to the Wantage team?

Ferrari as a team has won the most amount of championships to date with 16 Constructors’ titles and 15 Driver titles. However, this is followed by Williams with 9 Constructors’ titles and 7 Driver titles, so Williams should be one of the top teams, right? Well, they were in the past, but now they are struggling at the bottom and James Vowles is not happy with the performance.

James Vowles opens up about the condition of Williams

Williams is currently eighth in the constructors’ championship and this is not where the team should be, according to the team principal. According to Formule1.nl, James Vowles spoke about the results and said, “There is not a single part of this company that I can be satisfied with.”

He then explained the team’s situation, saying, “We are nowhere near the level of a title-worthy team. That may be a harsh statement, but unfortunately, it is the truth. There is still so much to happen and so much to change before we are on the right course.” Although Vowles has only been with the team since the last season, they finished 7th last year, and this year looks harder for them.

There are issues with the weight of the car and the drivers are not comfortable in the machine yet. Alex Albon managed to score 2 points for the team at Monaco and his teammate Logan Sargent is still struggling to find his first point. Recently, Alex Albon has gotten a contract extension and there is one seat left.

The empty seat is rumored to be taken by Carlos Sainz, however looking at the condition of the team, it looks difficult that he will win races in a Willams. Since Alex Albon scored his first points for the team, he got an extension. So, what exactly is Williams planning with this move?

Alex Albon: the savior for Williams?

Last year, out of the 28 points that Williams scored, 27 of them belonged to Alex Albon with Logan Sargent scoring just 1 point. Albon has been a promising driver since his debut in Toro Rosso. After that, he was promoted to drive alongside Max Verstappen, but he couldn’t deliver the results needed and eventually left the team after being made a reserve driver.

Albon went to Williams in 2022 and scored only 4 points in his first season. However, he moved up to P13th the next year. While the start of the year has been slow, there might be more points in store for him. James Vowles wants to stick with a driver who knows the team well by now. However, having just 2 points on the scoreboard, must be difficult to keep the team motivated.

The main issue that Williams was facing was the car being 14 kilos overweight, which they have worked on. Although there has been some success in making the car lighter, it does not drive much faster. This will need to be addressed if Williams wants to win more races.

Alex Albon already proved himself by achieving 2 podium finishes in 2020. But in a Williams, the best he has achieved is a P7 finish last year in Canada and Italy. Carlos Sainz moving to Williams would not be a good idea for the driver as the team is still tackling weight problems. Moving from Ferrari, who is P2 currently, to a team that is P8 will be a big shift for Sainz. One that takes away his chances of fighting for the world championship.

Considering Alex Albon scored points in Canada last year, do you believe this year will be the same?