Vaulz: Part of the responsibility for the incident lies with the team.

      James Vowles, head of the Williams team, summarizing a rather unsuccessful weekend in Zandvoort, acknowledged that part of the responsibility for the incident on the 66th lap of the race between Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon lies with the team. They made decisions, choosing tactics for their drivers based on the best intentions, but they turned out to be wrong...

      James Vowles: "Carlos and Alex collided on the track, and this raises many questions, starting with who was to blame. Let me say right away: both drivers are responsible for avoiding collisions with each other. But part of the responsibility lies with the team. We tried to keep Carlos on track when the virtual safety car was deployed, because if he had made a pit stop, he would have ended up behind Alex's and Franco Colapinto's cars anyway. Given that the pace of the FW48 would not have allowed him to overtake them.

      But because of this, we ultimately found ourselves in a situation where our drivers started to fight each other, even though they could not contend for points. It was the team's responsibility to prevent this. Overall, during that race, we made various decisions that now seem questionable.

      In particular, speaking about Carlos, we had to choose whether to call him in for a pit stop and thereby accept a loss of positions, or to continue battling on track. Since we were trying to avoid a complicated situation where our drivers would start competing against each other, I think a wrong decision was made. Moreover, if you are not contending for points, then all of this is not significant...

      But now we are making tremendous efforts to prepare for the stage in Monza. Behind the scenes, work is underway on technical innovations, but in reality, it will be completed a bit later. As for the upcoming races in Monza and Madrid, I am ready to admit that we will find ourselves in a difficult position there.

      Currently, the car lacks the pace to fight for points, and this is frustrating. At both stages, we will do everything possible, but difficulties are inevitable. The team continues to work on numerous projects aimed at overcoming the problems we faced this winter, to find a final solution and prevent a recurrence in the future. Right now, this is our main task."