"Sainz brings excellence," says Williams team boss James Vowles

Having secured the services of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, Williams team boss James Vowles claims that the Spaniard will "bring excellence along with him."

After Ferrari announced in February that seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz from 2025, the Spaniard has been linked with several outfits.

Following months-long paddock chatter, the talks ended after the Belgian Grand Prix when Williams confirmed that they secured the services of the three-time F1 race winner who will join the Grove-based outfit from Ferrari on a two-year agreement with options to extend.

Williams team boss James Vowles stressed that Sainz does not consider the British outfit as a short-term project, recalling what the Spaniard said to him: "The reason why I'm doing this is when I commit, I need to commit with all my heart and my soul, 100% - and to do that means I can't have any doubts."

The three-time F1 race winner turned down offers from Audi and Alpine to join Williams, a team being rebuilt from the ground up under Vowles' leadership.

"The fact he chose us about all else is a huge, monumental decision. Alpine are ahead of us on points this year. They were ahead of us last year as well. I recognize all of that."

Vowles explained that Williams finds itself in a major rebuild process with the American owner, Dorilton Capitals fully backing the team's recruitment drive. Past months saw the Grove-based squad hire around 250 people, including 26 senior staff from teams like Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Alpine.

"When I joined the team, we were about 700 people. The livery on the car in Silverstone had 1005 names on it. That's Williams today, and that's not the end of our journey by any stretch of the imagination."

By signing Carlos Sainz alongside Alex Albon, Vowles, who acted most recently at Mercedes strategy chief, believes that the British outfit has one of the strongest line-ups in Formula 1.

“So, out of all of those, the top of the list I’ve said from the start is Carlos. Last year he won a race and he did it the intelligent way against some of the best individuals.

"He’s beaten Lando [Norris] and Charles [Leclerc], he brings excellence along with him and that is where my heart is set," concluded Vowles.