Williams’ 2025 driver line-up of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz may be two of the “nicer young men” you could ever meet, but Martin Brundle reckons when the helmet goes down, they’re also “ferociously competitive”.
This season Williams have a new driver pairing with Sainz joining Albon at the Grove team having replaced Franco Colapinto who was the team’s end-of-season substitute when they opted to part ways with Logan Sargeant.
Martin Brundle foresees ‘healthy’ but ‘competitive’ competition
including a hat-trick of P5s in the Drivers’ Championship battles as well as four Grand Prix victories.
Despite forming the perfect “family” team with Charles Leclerc, as former F1 technical director Gary Anderson called it, Sainz was dropped by the Scuderia in favour of signing Lewis Hamilton before finding a new home at Williams.
He signed a multi-year deal with the Grove team in late July, the ‘Smooth Operator’ set to partner Albon for the F1 2025 season and beyond.
But while the duo may be two of the nicest people in the paddock, Brundle reckons sparks could fly.
“Two nicer young men you couldn’t wish to meet,” the former F1 driver wrote on Twitter, formerly known as X. “What you see is definitely what you get.
“But they are also ferociously competitive, which is very healthy if a little uncomfortable from time to time for a team.”
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That’s a situation team principal James Vowles is happy to accept as he believes he has the best pairing on the F1 2025 grid.
“I think I have the best or a combination of either the best drivers on the grid, there’s no politics between them,” he said.
“They’re both incredibly fierce competitors, but they develop a team, they’re leaders at the same time.”
Albon, meanwhile, is expecting a “great challenge” from Sainz.
: “I think Carlos is coming in with a lot of pedigree. I think he’s had a fantastic season as well against Charles [Leclerc], who we know is an extremely strong driver.
“For myself, it’s great to be able to have someone who I can directly compare against. I feel like it’s always been a bit of a burden to me in some ways because I feel like no one really knows where I stand. I have that confidence in myself that I’m pretty good.
“I’m glad that Carlos is there … just what he brings to Williams is going to be really important to us,” he said. “That experience that he has, the knowledge of being in a top team like Ferrari that is performing well week in, week out.
“When I joined Williams from Red Bull, obviously there was a lot that I needed to give and wanted to give to improve the team. But I’ve now been in the team for three years and as much as I still push and put the team into a direction that I think is needed, having that fresh mindset into it, I think is only going to be helpful.
“For me as well, as a teammate, I think I’m going to be very open-eared — just wanting to hear what he has to say about the car, but also what direction he believes we need to go in.”
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