Why Williams seems to be prepared for the progress of F1 with his chapter Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz sat from side to side in stools inside the Silverstone circuit garages that created the improvised study for the launch of formula one 2025 of Williams.

The car was preparing for his first race at the British Grand Prix House, built during the night at 4 am, according to the James Vowles team director, but before any driver could go up to the FW47, the new teammates played A round of what host Steve Jones, who works for Channel 4 F1, called: “Mr. & Lord.” The game proves how well two people know each other, and some of the questions for Albon and Sainz can be surprising, as if they sleep in pajamas or what is their karaoke track. Albon called some of the “strange” questions after Sainz was asked when Albon had his first kiss: 12 or 16 years.

Neither of them obtained a perfect score, which would probably agree is probably for the best. All production answered one of the many questions in the minds of the spectators. How are Albon and Sainz gelifications? After all, fans have already given their nickname: ‘Carbon’, which “suggests cohesion, a united duo,” Jones pointed out.

With Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari, Sainz chose to sign for Williams based in Grove. Albon means, for the first time since Williams joined in 2022, he faces a more experienced teammate, unlike Nicholas Latifi, Logan Sargeant and Franco Colapinto. Williams aims to take a step forward this year before changes in regulation in 2026, and to do so, he will need consistency of both drivers, working to improve the team.

“This will not be successful if an individual is above the team, if we, Carlos or Alex. He needs us all three, and then a thousand people point out the right path with the sole objective of this team becoming championship, ”said Vowles. “And that means that throughout the trip, there will be a driver or an individual who is worse a weekend or another; They are aware of that, and we have already had that very direct conversation about it. They are very in that mentality. “

Why does Albon feel additional pressure

Once the Hamilton movement to Ferrari was announced on February 1, 2024, Sainz became The most wanted individual in the driver market. He had four victories in his name in his name at the end of last season, which is something that none of the teammates of previous Williams of Albon has achieved. The Spanish is known for its methodical approach and reflective comments, and helped McLaren and Ferrari better understand their cars when they were fighting.

One would assume that Albon would feel pressure, given the way he has helped the team with his reconstruction efforts and to a large extent they are not returned in the last seasons while scoring most of the points of the team (four out of eight in 2022, 27 of 28 in 2023 and 12 departures. In F1, its toughest competition is generally your teammate. However, it has a healthier vision of the situation.

“If I’m honest, no,” said Albon. “Maybe I look differently to other people, but I see it as: the better my teammate is, the better I can face someone who has a great reputation, which comes from a very strong year.”

Sainz (right) is Albon’s most experienced teammate in years (through Williams Racing)

As Albon pointed out, 2024 was Sainz’s most successful F1 campaign. Looking at statistics alone He won in AustraliaOnly days retired from surgery after having appendicitis, and Again in Mexico. The Pole position said that race and stopped on the podium nine times, four of which arrived in the last six Grands Prix.

“It is a great challenge to have but also a positive perspective for me,” said Albon. “I believe in myself and I am happy to face anyone.”

They have only made a limited track that runs together, a recent test in Barcelona. But Albon can already say for “the work we do in the simulator, everything goes in the same direction.” He feels that the two are similar, describing Sainz as “a driver of thought” and that he puts himself in that category as well. He added: “It is a good basis to work.”

“It is clearly bringing a lot of information from Ferrari, different ways of working and different ways of optimizing his package,” said Albon later. “It is different from Williams, but it is very interesting, not only for the team, but also for me.”

It can still be the first days, but it sounds like a more united front inside the Williams camp while the reconstruction process continues. Cohesion is not a complete surprise given the reputation of the drivers. Sainz connected well with the previous teammates Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.

The tension may inevitably arise when Albon and Sainz run with each other, but the general panorama is the long -term vision of this project, so being open is critical at this early stage. The Spanish explained how “he has never seen such a genuine and so open guy and willing to progress with the team and listen to me, tell me what he already knows about the team, about the car, sharing with me.” What do you think of this? What do you think of that? ‘, And I recovered and ask him many other questions. ”

Sainz later added: “If we want this team to be competitive again and fight for the victories again, we just need to push in the same direction and perhaps sacrifice a little of our own driver’s secrets or driver’s things that would keep for you perhaps For maybe this time, share them to see if we can have faster progress. “

Vowles shared how the two drivers had worked well together, such as when the team analyzed brake maps or control systems. It differs from how Colapint, 21, fit the equation.

“It brings a completely new dimension, where Franco, for all his automobile skills, we were almost taught him what the control systems do,” Vowles said. “Now we have an expert in IT who has won races, and that has brought the team.”

And there is the case of postseason tests this month. Making Sainz participate was huge for Williams. Just out of a Ferrari who fought for the victories of the race and finished 14 points behind McLaren, the Spanish could compare how the two cars felt in Abu Dhabi. Sainz said: “I found a car that was a little better than I expected, obviously with some deficiencies compared to the cars that I have been driving, but not far away.”

Vowles confirmed Friday that the determined team is on the right path, and the team director is satisfied with the way moral continues to improve.

“I see an organization around me that is smiling, happy, raised shoulders, because they can see a path to success,” Vowles said. “And that has the names of Carlos and Alex everywhere.”

Sainz and Albon took the new car to turn on Friday. (Racing of Williams)

Williams’s potential step forward

Vowles has been clear since the beginning of his mandate that Williams was a long -term project. Even with 2025 that is expected to be quite tight, considering how things ended in Abu Dhabi, 2026 is still a great objective when New rules mean that cars will be smaller, lighter and more agile.

“The bias is a lot for 2026,” he said. “On January 2, the 2026 car was in the wind tunnel and has not come out since then.”

But that does not mean that Williams has not worked (or not) in this year’s car. He managed to put a car on time and at the weight limit on the track on Friday, a feat that did not achieve last year. And we cannot forget the context of last season and the 20 accidents of the team in 24 race weekends. Vowles said that while that impact is not yet noticed, “there will be a small amount of pain, that is just the fact behind this.”

“The best way I can summarize it is that I do not think it has a substantive effect on the championship, which ultimately is how we are awarded this year. It will have an impact on dollars, but we will treat it. ”

Williams, however, has an influx of cash. The team announced a new main sponsor, Atlassian, leaving McLaren as the only F1 team without one. Vowles described him as the biggest business for Williams and one of the greatest for sport. But the impact of this association is more than the financial element.

“It is an association of two organizations that have very close synergies on how we act and how we behave. Everything is about collaboration and teamwork, ”Vowles explained. “It’s about how you join people and you aim at the right way. It is about being a challenger of other brands and other systems and other dynamics. “

That concept, collaboration, has been an issue, not only since Vowles began in Williams, but also throughout the launch on Friday. Today’s Williams is different from Williams two years ago and the Williams of the championship times. It is difficult to say where the team under the headquarters in Grove will fit the builder classifications this season, which Albon feels that “it will be the closest grid in the history of Formula One”, but progression is needed. The team has begun with the right foot to correct its first errors of last year, to have one of the stronger drivers alignments in their recent history and continue with the staff of their team and the growth of sponsorship.

The Williams of Tomorrow is beginning to take shape.

“As a team, our main objective is to continue showing progress and impulse,” said Sainz. “As a team, we are leaving the years very difficult, but in recent years, it shows that the team is on a trajectory up. The wave is growing with the arrival of our main sponsor, Atlassian, the fact that I joined the team.

“I see progress. I see motivation. I see people who want to take this to the front of the network. This season it is about showing that and not letting the wave stop. “

Additional Luke Smith reports.

(Superior Photo: Williams Racing)