Williams chief doubles down on bold Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon claim ahead of F1 2025
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James Vowles has explained his eye-catching claim that his Williams team has the best driver pairing on the Formula 1 grid. Alex Albon has been largely impressive since he signed for the team in 2022, after a year out of the sport. But his team-mates have struggled to deliver - first Nicholas Latifi, and then Logan Sargeant, before an initial improvement when the latter was replaced by Franco Colapinto earlier this year.
In 2025, he will be partnered for the first time at his current team by a seasoned F1 racer. Carlos Sainz was the highest-profile star available in a very active driver market this year but Williams beat off the competition to land the Spaniard's signature.
There are plenty of impressive driver line-ups on the grid. Lewis Hamilton replaces Sainz to partner Charles Leclerc, while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are two young superstars who combined to deliver McLaren's first constructors' title since 1998 this year.
Still, though, Vowles is convinced that his team boasts a pairing that trumps them all. Challenged on that during an interview with Mirror Sport at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale, he explained: "From the outset, what I wanted to do is to bring the very best into this team.
"This is not the old Williams, this is not, 'Let's have pay drivers'. This is, 'Who's the best?' And start talking to them and get them there. The reason why I call it the best driver pairing is because there's no politics between either of those drivers. Alex and Carlos, neither one is political - they just want to go quick and they just want to develop the team into a quick team. For where Williams is, that's the right partnership, the right line-up.".
