James Vowles admits that Williams slide down the grid left him fearing he would lose Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.

Best of the rest in 2025, this season has seen Williams struggling at the back of the field, only just holding off Aston Martin and Cadillac.

With no end to the team's issues in sight, certainly not this year, Vowles was fearful that Albon and Sainz would seek alternative berths... not that there were many to choose from.

"I was concerned about losing both because they are world championship-material drivers that deserve the opportunity to be fighting for podiums or more, and we haven't delivered that," the Briton told reporters at Zandvoort.

"And more than that, we had a scope of where we were moving to," he continued, "I think there's no doubt if you look to the outside world over the last few years, we've been slowly stepping forward, with last year being a blip that I think was too positive from where we were, but a step in the right direction. So for us to move backwards this year isn't just a surprise to the drivers, it's a surprise to everyone. And that will always create the risk that we could lose them.

"What I'm thankful for is the moment we had problems, they stood by our side. It wasn't finger pointing, it was actually 'tell me what I can do' and they both came into the factory, spoke to the whole organisation and gave them a lift.

"Carlos did and Alex did the same this week once they re-signed, they wanted to make sure that they were here with the team. They want this to be a part of the team and the turnaround of this organisation and I'm thankful for that. But it's also an indication of what we've shown them in the back end of what's happened and what we're doing about it."

And what is the Grove outfit doing about it?

"I can't tell you everything that's going on behind the scenes but I can tell them," said Vowles. "And if they are re-signing it will give you an indication that there's a lot of change ongoing and they believe in what the future looks like and that belief is incredibly important whether it's for team members or for anyone in the outside world."

If nothing else, in retaining the pair, maintaining consistency is a positive message to the workforce.

"That consistency is important because the team is really maturing and changing and as much as you can keep consistent, especially in your driver line up, it becomes desperately important in order to keep building on that," admitted Vowles.

"Probably the best way to summarise it to you is the factory, there was a weight lifted off it this week as the result of it and I've seen them move forward at a much faster pace as a result so the belief is real and tangible."

Check out our Saturday gallery from the Zandvoort here.