As speculation linking Carlos Sainz with a shock move to Williams continues, James Vowles isn't giving anything away.

With Lewis Hamilton arriving at Ferrari at season end, the Spaniard still needs to find a berth of his own. With Sergio Perez retained at Red Bull the options are limited, with Williams looking increasingly to be the only option.

It is known that Audi is interested, and it is understood that talks have already been held with the German team that has already recruited Nico Hulkenberg, but that would entail what would effectively be a 'lost' season with Sauber in the meantime.

Speaking in Montreal, James Vowles admitted to being interested in the Spaniard.

"First and foremost, I think Carlos is an exceptional driver," he said. "He's a race-winning driver, and I think any team would be privileged to have him as a part of their organisation.

"But more than that, there's nothing to say at the moment," he added. "Yeah, nothing more than that."

Asked if a decision could be expected in weeks or months, the Briton responded: "Definitely, 100% by December, I'll be able to tell you."

"Carlos is an interesting driver, I have to say, not only for the qualities that James reminded and that led him to be a race winner, but in particular, I would highlight that he is very rational," said McLaren boss, Andrea Stella. "He needs to create a plan in his head around what is the fastest way in a lap, what is the fastest way of racing. He adds a lot of rationality to his instinct.

"The importance is that when you have this rational elaboration, it's also easy to communicate," he continued. "And then it becomes a big asset for the team because what he's processing, what he's seeing as an opportunity or what he's seeing as a problem, it becomes very clear for the team.

"It's very well communicated and we can do something about it. So I think for us has been definitely one of the leading variable in the development of the team because of these characteristics."

Asked about current incumbent, Logan Sargeant, Vowles said: "I think there's no doubt, actually very similar to Oscar, second year of running, and you are now seeing the confidence start to build as a result of it, and there is performance there.

"We also haven't had the cars in the same spec for a period of time," he added. "Some of that's still due to the earlier damage that we're building up to, some of that is because we pulled forward upgrades, and there was simply not enough to put across two cars.

"He is continuously evolving as an individual, as I hope he would be in that circumstance. Is he where I need him to be target-wise? And that's the big question of things. We need more from him, really, to be able to save his seat in that sort of circumstance."

Check out our Saturday gallery from Montreal here.