{"id":706289,"date":"2026-05-31T18:39:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T18:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/706289\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T18:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T18:39:10","slug":"williams-issues-defiant-sainz-albon-message-ahead-of-f1-driver-silly-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/706289\/","title":{"rendered":"Williams issues defiant Sainz\/Albon message ahead of F1 driver &#8216;silly season&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Williams boss James Vowles has shooed away any notions that either of its drivers would be looking for alternative drives, amid the team\u2019s tricky start to this year\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsportweek.com\/series\/single-seater\/formula-1\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Formula 1<\/a> season and the impending start of the so-called \u201csilly season\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/williamsf1.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Grove-based squad<\/a> has so far been unable to build on its superb 2025 season, in which it finished fifth in the Constructors\u2019 Championship, aided by two podiums from Carlos Sainz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Issues with the weight of its FW48 chassis and the navigation through the sport\u2019s complex new regulations cycle have seen the team amass just seven points amassed from the first five rounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Sainz and teammate Alex Albon, the situation will indeed be a disappointing one to be involved in, particularly with 2025 creating so much promise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Vowles, speaking over the weekend of the Canadian Grand Prix, iterated the team\u2019s fighting spirit, distancing it from the \u201cWilliams of old,\u201d insisting both Sainz and Albon share that mentality, placing a silencer on the starting pistol soon to be triggered for the mid-season driver market rumours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSame with the drivers. The drivers aren\u2019t here or interested in being just into Q3,\u201d\u00a0he told media, including Motorsport Week.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Williams-F1-2026-Canadian-GP-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"Williams has found itself in the more unenviable positions on the grid so far this season\" class=\"wp-image-247442\"  \/>Williams has found itself in the more unenviable positions on the grid so far this season<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut they are interested in being demonstrated that we have facilities behind us that are able to fix and remedy problems when they come up, and I think that\u2019s the main element.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think we\u2019re on the right pathway for that, but we haven\u2019t done enough yet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn terms of \u2018silly season\u2019, speak to Alex, speak to Carlos. They want to be part of this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sainz took a point-scoring ninth place in Montreal, signalling continued progress. With the F1 circus rolling on to Monaco this week, Williams will be looking to score big in the principality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-16eb0cceeb67e40748c818e6085cb818 wp-block-paragraph\">READ MORE \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsportweek.com\/2026\/05\/31\/mercedes-urged-against-f1-team-orders\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mercedes urged against F1 team orders despite \u2018skulduggery\u2019 risks<br \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Williams boss James Vowles has shooed away any notions that either of its drivers would be looking for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82,1196],"class_list":["post-706289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports","tag-williams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}