Williams Racing Team Principal James Vowles did not mince words when reflecting on a miscommunication during the 2025 F1 Miami GP. This sparked confusion between his two drivers, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon. While the team celebrated a strong points finish, the internal drama overshadowed what might have otherwise been a smooth double-points result.
“This next part is the part that frustrated me the most from the race weekend,” Vowles admitted in the team’s post-race debrief. “Winding back a bit, a message was communicated to both race engineers effectively that Alex had a reliability problem, and we needed to get some air into the radiators. That was communicated to both with the decision of just making a little gap between the cars for the time being, to make sure we do that.”
However, Vowles acknowledged that the clarity of the message was sorely lacking. “That message wasn’t clear in its construct. It wasn’t clear even on whether overtaking was possible or not. The primary function is getting the car cool to move forward.”
Vowles explains what happened in Miami
The moment in question came late in the race. Albon, with better pace and a healthier car, overtook Sainz despite an apparent team instruction suggesting otherwise from the Spaniard’s race engineer. It was a move that caught the four-time winner off guard. it added another layer of frustration to a race already mired in setbacks.
“To Carlos, the message was communicated, Alex won’t attack you, and to Alex, that same message was communicated that he isn’t to overtake Carlos,” Vowles explained. “But only when his DRS was open and he was effectively alongside Carlos, completing the overtake. This isn’t Alex going against team orders. This is on us as a team, as an organisation, to significantly tighten up how we communicate to the engineers and how quickly we communicate to the drivers.”
The timing couldn’t have been worse for Sainz. He was already dealing with a compromised strategy and a damaged car from a first-lap incident. This ironically involved Albon. Despite his best efforts to manage deteriorating performance, he found himself overtaken by his teammate. This is a situation that should have been handled more cleanly from the pit wall.
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“What’s worth adding from my side is even once we had stabilised them, we more than likely would have very quickly inverted the cars. And the reason behind that is Carlos has sustained damage from that lap one incident. And it was getting worse and worse. We could see the floor was deteriorating. It’s part of the reason why Alex was getting closer and closer to him and able to re-overtake,” Vowles noted.
“The loss is really mounting into a couple of tenths by this point. So more than likely we would have done that. But again that would be a team decision rather than a driver not expecting to be attacked.”
Vowles was quick to defend both of his drivers, pointing instead to the team’s internal processes that need refining. He acknowledged the emotional toll these incidents can have on the drivers, particularly one as driven as Sainz.
“The final bit for me is I’d be disappointed if we didn’t have drivers being frustrated by what happens out on track,” he said. “They’re giving their heart and soul to us. In the case of Carlos, he was there fighting for a fifth place on merit and in the circumstance where something catches you off guard and you’re not sure whether it was a drive or anything else going on, it can frustrate you. But his passion is exactly why I want him in this team and in the car.”
What are the learnings for Albon and Sainz?
While the miscommunication ultimately didn’t cost Williams too dearly in terms of points, Vowles was emphatic that the mistake served as a wake-up call.
“There’s a lot of learning that comes out of this. What I can assure everyone is it simply won’t happen again. We are so fortunate to have two world-class drivers that are fighting for us and will do absolutely everything right for the team. And our job is to create the right construct for them.”
To that end, the team has already taken action to debrief and prevent a recurrence. “What I can assure everyone is we spent quite a bit of time post-race and again on Monday talking through the incident. Actually, [it] was just a few minutes, but more importantly, how we as a team move forward from that. And do a better job all together in the future.”
Incidents like these are growing pains of a team clawing its way back into contention. For Vowles, clear communication, stronger operational execution, and a united front from his drivers are key to sustaining that momentum.
