Williams team principal James Vowles has opened up on the updated driver lineup in his team with the onboarding of Carlos Sainz this season, who will race alongside Alex Albon.
Vowles shared his pride in his drivers by stressing that they "don't have a political bone," hinting that they are entirely driven to perform for themselves and the team.
After an eventful stint of four years at Ferrari, Sainz was asked to step down last year to make way for the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in the Maranello outfit.
Despite several options on the F1 grid, including Red Bull and Mercedes, Sainz eventually signed with Williams, given Vowles' ambitious roadmap for the team, and to take on the challenge of elevating a team that last scored double-digit points in 2024 to its winning form.
Vowles pointed out that both its drivers are clean racers and revealed how Albon pushed him into signing Sainz for the team's growth. The team boss also touched upon Sainz's fighting spirit seen during his conflicts with his former teammate Charles Leclerc and noted that such incidents are normal and benefit the team in terms of performance.
Speaking to Motorsport.com about both drivers, Vowles said:
"One of the elements that are great with Carlos and Alex is that neither one has any politics, they don't have a political bone, they just want the car to be quick and they want to perform the best that we can within that environment.
"They both know the challenges of '25, but the real crux of it is looking forward to what we have in 2026 together. So what I'm expecting is insights into where we're strong during the week to what I already believe and what Alex already believes.
"What I'm expecting is leadership that with just a few words is able to lead the team in the right direction as we're moving forward as an organisation. What I'm expecting is an individual that will give me everything when any given race begins, because we're here to make this team successful."
Identifying a leader in Albon due to his ability to lift the team during setbacks, Vowles added:
"What I love about Alex is he's a leader.
"When things get difficult, he pulls forward, irrespective of what the circumstances are, and lifts the team back up to emotional strength. He was the one encouraging us to get Carlos into the building because he's not worried about a challenge, he wants us to be successful.
"He's had a frustrating year himself. Reflecting on all that, Alex is the driver that I know he can be and I think next year he'll reset, start again and he'll be strong from the beginning."
Vowles is convinced that despite both drivers being strong performers, they will deliver clean racing at the end of race weekends. He said:
"What I see with Carlos, does he fight hard? Yes. But is it clean? Also yes. It's very clean racing. They're not doing it by knocking the wheels off each other's cars. They're doing it by, if one of them is faster than the other one, they can race.
"And we're in that situation as well. What I've always had a rule of is, it's fair to race. It's no problem to race, but you don't hit each other, you don't push each other off track. You do it as a sportsman, you do it clean, respecting the brand that you're representing.
"When I look at [Sainz and Charles Leclerc], there was some radio jibber-jabber across the last few races. That's normal. One driver will always be frustrated by what it is. But as long as you create the right environment where they know this is the way we can race each other…
"And there will be points where I say, you can't. We need to bring this result home. Because the result is more important than where you individually finish. That's a very different situation to be dealing with.
"But if you have two drivers pushing each other, it's typically that you're getting the absolute most out of them. What is great about Carlos is, despite his future being different to what it is today, you're seeing Carlos fight for everything. And that's one of the strengths he has."