Williams feared losing ‘championship-material’ Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon amid F1 woes

Williams Formula 1 team principal James Vowles has admitted he was “concerned about losing both” Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon before they signed contract extensions. 

Following a dreadful start to the 2026 season for Williams, Sainz and Albon had been weighing up their futures over the F1 summer break, but both ultimately reaffirmed their commitment to the British outfit. 

Albon’s new deal will keep him at Williams until at least the end of 2027, while Sainz has put pen to paper on what has been described as being a “multi-year” contract. 

"I was concerned about losing both because they are world championship-material drivers that deserve the opportunity to be fighting for podiums or more, and we haven't delivered that," Vowles admitted at the Dutch Grand Prix on Friday. 

”And more than that, we had a scope of where we were moving to - I think there's no doubt if you look to the outside world over the last few years, we've been slowly stepping forward, with last year being a blip that I think was too positive from where we were, but a step in the right direction.

"So for us to move backwards this year isn't just a surprise to the drivers, it's a surprise to everyone. And that will always create the risk that we could lose them.

"What I'm thankful for is the moment we had problems, they stood by our side. It wasn't finger pointing, it was actually 'tell me what I can do' and they both came into the factory, spoke to the whole organisation and gave them a lift.

"Carlos did the same and Alex did the same this week once they re-signed, they wanted to make sure that they were here with the team. They want this to be a part of the team and the turnaround of this organisation and I'm thankful for that.

"But it's also an indication of what we've shown them in the back end of what's happened and what we're doing about it.”

Vowles successfully managed to convince both drivers to keep the faith in Williams’ recovery project. 

"What we demonstrated to Carlos is everything that happened this winter, everything that we are doing right now to fix it, the corner that we've turned as a result of it and what the future looks like,” he explained. 

"And there's zero doubt about it. We are way off where we wanted to be. We have a car that was overweight, late and not to the performance specification that we wanted it to be. 

“So those are just facts. What Carlos wanted to see, and Alex for that matter as well, is the changes that we are making that show us that there's the right trajectory.

"It's a combination of people, processes, systems, structures. It's not one thing. And it shows them that we are on the right path.”

Vowles added: "I can't tell you everything that's going on behind the scenes but I can tell them. 

"And if they are re-signing it will give you an indication that there's a lot of change ongoing and they believe in what the future looks like and that belief is incredibly important whether it's for team members or for anyone in the outside world."