Williams send Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon key message: 'It won't ever happen again'

Williams team principal James Vowles has issued a critical message to Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, insisting that its shocking pre-season will not "ever happen again".

The Grove-based outfit sacrificed introducing upgrades during the 2025 campaign to focus fully on the new power unit regulations, in pursuit of making a strong start.

Expectations were high as a result; however, it endured one of the worst winters in modern F1. Williams faced delays in completing the FW48, missed its Barcelona shakedown and was significantly overweight.

Several reports suggested the Williams was 20-25kg overweight, making the opening rounds painful for Albon and Sainz. Improvements have already been made, allowing Williams to occasionally challenge for points, although both drivers were eliminated in Q1 in Austria.

Reliability issues have also hurt both drivers, with RacingNews365 understanding that, if offers from better teams were made to Albon and Sainz, an exit from Williams would be considered.

With F1 entering silly season, Vowles has insisted that he feels "very comfortable" with the position of his drivers, but that the team cannot ever repeat what happened last winter.

Asked what is needed to keep Sainz and Albon settled, Vowles explained: "They are settled. That’s perhaps the difference. I can answer really the question you’re asking, which is, is there risk? I’m very comfortable with where we are with Alex and Carlos. 

"Our job in all of this, irrespective of Alex and Carlos, but for the wider picture, is to develop this car and prove to ourselves that we have the capability to move significantly forward relative to the field. That’s it. That is the goal. 

"And being transparent about it all, they’re looking for exactly the same output that we need to achieve on that point. Are we putting performance on the table, delivering it, moving on and keeping stepping that way? And have we demonstrated sufficiently that the troubles that we had during the winter are behind us? 

"And on that one, I’m very confident it won’t ever happen again. So that’s why I sit here calm and comforted as a result of everything. And if you don’t know my language for it, Carlos spoke about it yesterday, Alex spoke about it, I think in the press conference last week. 

"They’re comfortable with where they are. They want to be on this journey with us. We need to make a few steps, that’s it."