Williams team principal James Vowles has publicly acknowledged that his team’s strategic decisions at the Canadian Grand Prix were flawed, while crediting Carlos Sainz’s ninth-place finish as a testament to the Spaniard’s racecraft in difficult circumstances.
Speaking on the team’s official YouTube series The Vowles Verdict, the Williams boss was candid about the calls made in Montreal, where both drivers started on intermediate tyres only for the anticipated rain to ease far sooner than the team’s radar had indicated.
“You’ve got two choices. Do you come straight away in under one of those formation laps, or do you stay out and try and maximise at least some of the benefit that you’ve had as a result of it? The decisions we made weren’t right or perfect at all.”
A costly gamble on the weather
Williams committed to intermediates on the grid in Montreal, banking on a prolonged wet spell that never fully materialised. Once it became clear conditions were drying faster than forecast, both Sainz and Albon were switched to slick tyres earlier than planned — but not before valuable time had been lost.
Sainz, starting 15th, struggled to generate temperature in his slicks as residual rain made the surface treacherous. Vowles suggested the opening lap in damp conditions could theoretically have been used to gain ground quickly — a gain that the premature switch to slicks effectively cancelled out. “The radar wasn’t entirely accurate, and it was hard to know where more rain was coming in,” Vowles noted.
The episode is a reminder of how punishing Montreal can be for strategy calls. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve’s long pit lane and the unpredictable micro-climate around the St. Lawrence River have caught out teams in similar fashion before. In a season where constructors’ points are tightly contested deeper in the field, two points from ninth place feel like a hard-won consolation rather than a result Williams can be fully satisfied with.
Sainz rescues the day, Albon’s race ended by Piastri
Despite the strategy missteps, Sainz produced what Vowles called “an absolutely brilliant job fighting back up through the order”, capitalising on a Virtual Safety Car period to switch to medium tyres and hold on to ninth place at the flag. It was the kind of recovery drive that underlines why Williams signed the two-time race winner — the ability to extract maximum points even when the team hands him a compromised situation.
Albon had no such opportunity. The Thai driver was running well before contact with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri ended his afternoon prematurely. Vowles was pointed in his assessment: “Alex was performing very well until he was unfortunately taken out by Piastri, who just came from too far back, and the damage was, again, extensive.” The word “again” is telling — it is not the first time Albon has lost a result to a collision this season, and those lost points are beginning to mount.
Vowles did draw a positive from Albon’s truncated weekend, noting that the underlying car pace was strong. “That means we developed the car,” he said, pointing to a genuine step forward from the Grove factory even if the results have not fully reflected it yet.
What this means for Williams in the constructors’ fight
The two points from Sainz’s ninth keep Williams ticking over in the constructors’ standings, but the team will know that a cleaner strategic call in Canada — particularly with Albon showing genuine pace before the collision — could have yielded a much more meaningful haul. In the battle for positions in the lower half of the constructors’ table, every point that slips away in a chaotic race is a point a rival can pick up instead.
Williams will get another chance to put things right at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on June 22, a circuit where clean, dry conditions and a more predictable strategic picture should suit a team that clearly has pace in the car.