James Vowles, Williams Formula 1 team principal, has admitted that his side must shoulder some responsibility for the collision between Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon at the Dutch Grand Prix. The incident occurred in the closing stages of the race at Zandvoort, as the two drivers fought hard for a position outside the points.
According to Vowles, the strategic decision not to pit during the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was the root cause. Williams chose to stay out with the hope that Sainz could hold his position, but the consequence was that both cars ended up in a fierce duel that led to contact.
"As you saw, Alex and Carlos came together on track. There are a lot of questions about whose fault it is. I'll start with this: both our drivers have a responsibility not to hit each other," Vowles said in the team's video debrief, The Vowles Verdict.
Vowles added that in this particular circumstance, the team had a significant share of blame. "We tried leaving Carlos out at that VSC. The reason was because had we stopped, he would have been behind Alex and Franco anyway. So you're back net to where you would have been before, without the pace to overtake them. But that said, this also put our cars into a situation where they were fighting tooth and nail for no points on track. That's not a situation we should be putting them in either," he stressed.
Sainz has apologised for the clash, while Albon was quick to downplay it. "It's not a Verstappen and Ricciardo, it's less serious than that. It was simply on him. I saw him lock up, so I immediately tried to follow him in a straight line. But we made contact, and my floor was pretty damaged, so we had to box," said Alex Albon.
This incident adds to a poor record for Williams, who are fighting to escape the bottom of the standings. With Vowles' admission, the Grove-based team must now re-evaluate their race strategy to avoid a repeat in the future.
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