Vowles reverses stance on Albon’s team orders snub

Williams team principal James Vowles has walked back his initial suggestion that Alex Albon disregarded team instructions during the Miami Grand Prix.

In the race, Albon was directed to maintain position behind teammate Carlos Sainz but proceeded to overtake the Spaniard. Sainz, incensed, responded on the radio: “You told me he’s been told.” Race engineer Gaetan Jego replied, “I know. Let’s be the bigger one, ok?”

Sainz, however, remained livid, declaring: “That’s not how I go racing, guys. I don’t care. I’ve lost a lot of confidence here on everything.”

Vowles then intervened on the radio to placate Sainz, saying, “I agree with you,” and adding, presumably about Albon, “We need proper engagement from him.”

A week later, Vowles clarified that the incident stemmed from a miscommunication. He explained that both drivers’ race engineers were informed Albon had a cooling issue requiring clean air, but the message lacked clarity.

“That message wasn’t clear in its construct,” Vowles confirmed. “It wasn’t even clear on whether overtaking was possible or not. The primary function is getting the car cool to move forward.”

He elaborated: “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, but his DRS was open and he was effectively alongside Carlos completing the overtake. So 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.”

Vowles insisted, “What I can assure everyone is it simply won’t happen again.”

Addressing Sainz’s radio outburst about losing confidence in the team, Vowles expressed empathy. “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 it, so in the case of Carlos he was there fighting for a fifth place on merit. His passion is exactly why I want him in this team and in the car.”