James Vowles confirms Carlos Sainz is Williams’ “number one target” for F1 2025

Williams boss James Vowles has openly admitted that Carlos Sainz is the team’s “number one target” to complete their 2025 F1 driver line-up.

Sainz is the most sought after free agent on the F1 driver market after the shock news of Lewis Hamilton’s switch from Mercedes to Ferrari for next season left him without a drive.

The Spaniard has found himself linked to Mercedes and Red Bull but it is now thought that either Williams or Sauber/Audi will be the most likely destination for the outgoing Ferrari driver.

Williams team principal Vowles stepped up his courting of Sainz by making a public pitch to the three-time grand prix winner on Friday, saying it should be an “easy decision” to join the British squad.

Vowles went further ahead of qualifying on Saturday by naming Sainz as Williams’ priority.

“That bit I can say, the number one target is Carlos,” Vowles told Sky Sports F1.

“He’s a race-winning driver that last year against all odds beat Max [Verstappen] in Singapore with a brilliant drive, and that’s not the first time, he’s intelligent in how he does things, logical, incredibly quick.

“What he did in Shanghai, this will sound like a negative and it’s not, in qualifying he crashed and we’ve all been there to a certain extent, it’s an impressive athlete that can reset and then go out and beat your team mate in that condition, and I think that shows you how strong he is as a driver.

“I think any team on the grid would be fortunate to have someone like Carlos alongside them.”

There have been rumours a deal between the two parties is close and that an announcement could come ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23 - Sainz’s home race.

Vowles would not budge either way on such speculation when the notion of a Barcelona announcement was put to him. 

“Is it, good to know [that Spain is next],” Vowles said. “Where we are at the moment is you’ll see the rest of the market clear itself in the next four weeks, that’s the time period we’re looking at.”

With Alex Albon under contract for at least another two seasons, signing Sainz would leave Logan Sargeant without a drive for 2025.