Latest news with #JamesVowles
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Guardian
Williams' James Vowles ‘backing failure' in bid to guide team to F1 summit
Finding themselves fighting off Ferrari and mauling the midfield, these are heady times for a resurgent Williams. The team principal James Vowles has engineered an extraordinary comeback but this year's progress is likely to be just the start for a team determined to return to the heights of Formula One, which they once dominated. That Williams' form has changed drastically could not have been clearer than at the Miami GP. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were in a fight with the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, the Scuderia finding themselves at one point trying to catch Albon, who took fifth place and at the same time fending off a charging Sainz. That scenario was unthinkable in recent years for a team that have been in the bottom two in the championship in five of the past seven seasons. Heading into this weekend's Spanish GP they are now fifth, well behind the big four but with more than double the points of Haas, their nearest competitors in the midfield. In the grand scheme of the title fight this might be considered small beer but in F1 terms it is an extraordinary feat, especially given Vowles has only been in charge since January 2023, when he inherited a team that were flailing as well as lacking infrastructure and organisation. Vowles, who has an engineer's bent for breaking down questions to ensure they have been comprehensively examined, plays down his role in the turnaround but it is impossible to ignore that he has been at the helm and had the force of will to see it through. Fighting for titles is now the very real expectation. He has led an investment in people, as well as facilities and structures and in changing the approach within the team. 'We have a really open, honest culture. There is no bullshit. I believe in failure and I believe in backing failure at this point in time,' he says. 'When you fail, you learn more than anything else you've done prior to that point, because it hurts. As long as you take the learning from that and give it to everyone else, it's the strongest thing you can do.' There is precedent to this for Vowles, who began his F1 career at British American Racing in 2001. He recalls there were 255 personnel at the time and within months there was a cull of 56 of them, all fired in one fell swoop. 'I was in there watching a team fall apart because of a fear of failure, not growing as a result of it,' he says. 'I've made it my ethos that is not how I ever want a team to be.' What followed was a remarkable career as chief strategist at Brawn GP, including Jenson Button's title in 2009 and then with Mercedes and their unprecedented success between 2014 and 2021. Experience he brought with him when he took on his first gig as team principal at Williams. There has been no magic bullet, however, rather a series of measures all interlinked. The team, formed by Frank Williams in 1977 and who went on to take nine constructors' and seven drivers' titles, were sold by the family to the private investment company Dorilton Capital in 2020, which has since backed it financially. They are now operating very much closer to the capacity required to be competitive. The personnel count has risen from 700 to 1100 and Vowles has made them an attractive prospect to entice the best. They are spending at the limit of the budget cap, have two world-class drivers and, as Vowles notes, an agility in the decision-making process that many rivals will envy. Putting it all together has been crucial. 'The biggest change we've really made is actually just getting the team to work together in harmony, point the right way and talk to each other,' he says. 'The right people in the right place working together with the right culture wrapping around them.' He has been explicit in targeting 2026 as the year he expected the Williams comeback to begin and it appears he has brought everyone with him. 'I like JV because he has a plan and he will commit 100% to it. He trusts his feeling, his plan, his project, and I back him,' noted Sainz from the sharp end. Inside Williams the sentiment is the same. The temptation at this stage would be to hurl everything at the car to hang on to fifth place but this is of no interest to Vowles, who has long-since shifted the team's entire focus to the car for 2026. 'The gun is already fired,' he says with finality. This season then, for all that it is already a standout in Williams' recent history, is far from where Vowles wants and now expects the team to be. 'I'm here to win,' he says. 'Celebrating the fifths and the sixths along the way means we won't get towards winning as quickly as we would otherwise. Which means I'm not satisfied and the ambition does not end with finishing fifth this season.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Williams' James Vowles ‘backing failure' in bid to guide team to F1 summit
Finding themselves fighting off Ferrari and mauling the midfield, these are heady times for a resurgent Williams. The team principal James Vowles has engineered an extraordinary comeback but this year's progress is likely to be just the start for a team determined to return to the heights of Formula One, which they once dominated. That Williams' form has changed drastically could not have been clearer than at the Miami GP. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were in a fight with the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, the Scuderia finding themselves at one point trying to catch Albon, who took fifth place and at the same time fending off a charging Sainz. Advertisement Related: Oscar Piastri wins F1 Miami Grand Prix to stretch lead in title race That scenario was unthinkable in recent years for a team that have been in the bottom two in the championship in five of the past seven seasons. Heading into this weekend's Spanish GP they are now fifth, well behind the big four but with more than double the points of Haas, their nearest competitors in the midfield. In the grand scheme of the title fight this might be considered small beer but in F1 terms it is an extraordinary feat, especially given Vowles has only been in charge since January 2023, when he inherited a team that were flailing as well as lacking infrastructure and organisation. Vowles, who has an engineer's bent for breaking down questions to ensure they have been comprehensively examined, plays down his role in the turnaround but it is impossible to ignore that he has been at the helm and had the force of will to see it through. Fighting for titles is now the very real expectation. Advertisement He has led an investment in people, as well as facilities and structures and in changing the approach within the team. 'We have a really open, honest culture. There is no bullshit. I believe in failure and I believe in backing failure at this point in time,' he says. 'When you fail, you learn more than anything else you've done prior to that point, because it hurts. As long as you take the learning from that and give it to everyone else, it's the strongest thing you can do.' There is precedent to this for Vowles, who began his F1 career at British American Racing in 2001. He recalls there were 255 personnel at the time and within months there was a cull of 56 of them, all fired in one fell swoop. 'I was in there watching a team fall apart because of a fear of failure, not growing as a result of it,' he says. 'I've made it my ethos that is not how I ever want a team to be.' What followed was a remarkable career as chief strategist at Brawn GP, including Jenson Button's title in 2009 and then with Mercedes and their unprecedented success between 2014 and 2021. Experience he brought with him when he took on his first gig as team principal at Williams. There has been no magic bullet, however, rather a series of measures all interlinked. The team, formed by Frank Williams in 1977 and who went on to take nine constructors' and seven drivers' titles, were sold by the family to the private investment company Dorilton Capital in 2020, which has since backed it financially. Advertisement They are now operating very much closer to the capacity required to be competitive. The personnel count has risen from 700 to 1100 and Vowles has made them an attractive prospect to entice the best. They are spending at the limit of the budget cap, have two world-class drivers and, as Vowles notes, an agility in the decision-making process that many rivals will envy. Putting it all together has been crucial. 'The biggest change we've really made is actually just getting the team to work together in harmony, point the right way and talk to each other,' he says. 'The right people in the right place working together with the right culture wrapping around them.' He has been explicit in targeting 2026 as the year he expected the Williams comeback to begin and it appears he has brought everyone with him. Related: Lewis Hamilton labels talk of strained relationship with Ferrari engineer as 'BS' Advertisement 'I like JV because he has a plan and he will commit 100% to it. He trusts his feeling, his plan, his project, and I back him,' noted Sainz from the sharp end. Inside Williams the sentiment is the same. The temptation at this stage would be to hurl everything at the car to hang on to fifth place but this is of no interest to Vowles, who has long-since shifted the team's entire focus to the car for 2026. 'The gun is already fired,' he says with finality. This season then, for all that it is already a standout in Williams' recent history, is far from where Vowles wants and now expects the team to be. 'I'm here to win,' he says. 'Celebrating the fifths and the sixths along the way means we won't get towards winning as quickly as we would otherwise. Which means I'm not satisfied and the ambition does not end with finishing fifth this season.'
Straits Times
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Straits Times
Monaco GP farce should trigger rethink, or race risks irrelevance
Mercedes' George Russell (left) races behind the Williams cars during the Monaco Grand Prix on May 25. PHOTO: AFP It was Williams team principal James Vowles who summarised Formula One's latest gimmick – two mandatory pit stops in the Monaco Grand Prix – most succinctly: 'It's not how I like going racing, but here is what the rules have created. We need to review the rules and regulations for Monaco, because racing like this feels wrong and I want us to be racing on performance and merit.' Making two pits stops mandatory was supposed to spice up the usual dull processions for which the race round the streets of Monte Carlo is infamous, to introduce greater strategic possibilities and create dynamic situations to enhance the racing. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
New York Times
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Is Williams F1's ‘best of the rest' in 2025? Alex Albon's Imola drive says yes
Alex Albon dared to dream. As the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix entered the final stages, with just a third of the race distance to go, the Williams driver was running among the top teams, sitting 12.7 seconds behind second-place Lando Norris by lap 40. He hadn't been on a Formula One podium in five years, his last time finishing among the top three happening at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix with Red Bull. Advertisement Oscar Piastri passed him on that lap, but Albon soon found himself scrapping with the Ferraris, taking advantage of some luck and strategy but showing his skill when it counted. He eventually brought home his second consecutive fifth-place finish, furthering his early case to be considered F1's driver of the year. Across the seven race weekends, the 29-year-old has secured 40 points and only finished outside the top 10 once (his 12th-place finish in Bahrain). He sits only eight points off seventh-placed Kimi Antonelli in the driver standings. And, largely thanks to Albon's consistent points finishes, Williams has a 31-point lead on sixth-place Haas for the 'best of the rest' battle. It's a monumental moment for a team undergoing a lengthy rebuilding process, as team principal James Vowles has always preached the long-term focus of the team since taking the helm in 2023. But considering Williams has already stopped development on its 2025 car and shifted its focus to next year, when the regulations change, these early gains are crucial. Millions of dollars in end-of-season prize money separate each Constructors' Championship position, and finishing fifth would be a night-and-day difference to its ninth place in 2024. Even with Albon's impressive drive Sunday, there is a sense of 'What if?' regarding how the race shook out, creating an interesting scenario where a fifth-place finish for a midfield team may evoke mixed emotions. But it shows how far Williams has come and will go. In the final year of F1's current regulations, it has developed a car that can compete on merit against the Ferrari. 'This car is not going to be developed. The car that we have is good enough to be on par with Mercedes and Ferrari at some circuits, like we saw in Miami and here,' Albon's teammate Carlos Sainz said. 'It's not good enough for other circuits — like, Barcelona (at the end of the month), you will see we will not be in the fight. Who knows in Monaco (next weekend). We will see.' Imola is known as a difficult circuit to overtake on. The layout is rather narrow, and building up the speed necessary to pass a car can be difficult because of the challenging corners. Qualifying and track position therefore become even more important, making Saturday a big part of the battle. To say Williams' qualifying was strong may be an understatement. Sainz set the fastest lap in Q2, but Vowles noted in the team's recap that they knew it would be temporary. While Sainz had a compromised out-lap in Q3 and Albon struggled to feel comfortable with the car, they qualified sixth and seventh, after the Ferrari duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, plus Mercedes' Antonelli, exited in Q2. Advertisement On Sunday, the Williams duo made a clean start and held their starting positions. Albon patiently waited to see how the race would unfold, a benefit of starting a bit further back in the top 10. He 'didn't need to push,' he said, and watched as George Russell did just that early on, his tires paying the price. Antonelli's teammate 'kind of backed everyone up a little bit, and I could see all the cars in front sliding around. I was just staying put,' Albon said. 'I knew that, the amount that George was sliding, there were going to be cars in front (that) would have to convert to a two-stop. And so, once they all started to drop in, I thought, 'Okay, maybe I can extend the stint'.' Sainz pitted on Lap 13 while Albon stayed out and caught a lucky break with the virtual safety car (VSC) caused by Esteban Ocon's retirement. Albon, running third, pitted for hard tires on Lap 31. A podium finish seemed a bit of a stretch for a Williams, regardless of Albon's performance, because Piastri was charging back through the grid. Once the McLaren passed Albon, he ran fourth with a comfortable margin over Hamilton — a nine-and-a-half-second gap separating them with 23 laps to go. The pit stops during the safety car triggered by Antonelli meant Albon ran fifth, ahead of Russell, but behind Leclerc. It became a battle of blue versus red once the race restarted, Albon looking for any way past the Ferrari and his significantly older tires. The critical moment came on Lap 60. Leclerc and Albon were side-by-side going into Turn 2, as the latter tried to make a move around the outside. But Albon ended up in the gravel, and Hamilton slipped past when the Williams rejoined the track. The question arose, however, whether Leclerc forced Albon off the track. The Ferrari driver returned the position before the stewards concluded their investigation, avoiding a potential penalty. Advertisement 'I'm not going to say I'm disappointed with P5,' Albon said after the race. 'And honestly, when I look at the battle with Charles, I would have done the same in his position. I don't think he did anything that crazy. It's just someone trying to hold their position.' In hindsight, Albon thought he could have been more patient about attempting an overtake on Leclerc. Both Leclerc's and Piastri's tires were significantly older than Albon's at that point. 'At that point in the race, honestly, I was feeling so good,' Albon said. 'I thought, 'Oscar's up ahead on one side, I can go after him and maybe get a P3'.' Williams finished the race in the top five on pure pace, and Albon battled McLaren and Ferrari on merit. Vowles noted in the team's post-race recap, 'We've been fast all year long and we are progressing relative to some giants; we were running on genuine merit up in a podium position.' While Albon may have lucked out with the VSC, other factors contributed to that finish. His strong opening stint saw him be the only driver outside the top teams able to extend the medium tire. The car has also been improving compared to previous years, and Albon commented on the better balance: 'There's clearly a downforce game, but there's also a drivability balance game, which has made it easier to drive better, gives you more confidence. You're less limited in terms of setup, what you can do with a car.' Williams used to be in a situation where certain tracks would suit its car better, so there was an idea of where it could or could not perform, which Sainz feels is still the case judging from the quotes earlier in this article. But F1 has traveled to a variety of circuits over the past seven race weekends, and it has been able to put together strong performances, Albon bringing points home at all but one. And while Sainz only has 11 points to his name, it's worth remembering that he is still adjusting to a new team, which means Williams is also still adjusting to him. Case in point, the Spaniard touched on how they need to improve their communication. Advertisement 'I've always told the team again, this is the year to do these mistakes,' Sainz said. 'At the same time, it's time to make a step.' He elaborated on that point: 'Williams is not fighting for any world championships, but I do believe Williams has the potential to fight for race wins and championships in the future.' And Sainz isn't wrong. The team is making steps with its car and the infrastructure. And it has a strong driver lineup in he and Albon. While teams are catching up as they bring upgrades, like this weekend in Imola, Williams is 'still holding our own,' Albon said. In what is the team's strongest season since 2017, it doesn't feel like a matter of if Williams will be back, but when. Additional reporting: Luke Smith
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix first practice
Williams boss Vowles backs Colapinto Andrew Benson BBC F1 correspondent Image source, Getty Images Franco Colapinto makes his debut for Alpine this weekend amid the disruption following the departure of team principal Oliver Oakes. The Argentine, who did nine races for Williams last season, replaces Australian Jack Doohan, a move announced a day after Oakes' resignation. It seems hardly ideal timing to start a career with a team, but Williams team principal James Vowles backs Colapinto to cope. "Is it in a turbulent time?" Vowles said at a media briefing at the Williams factory earlier this week. "Yes, no doubt about it. Will they be supportive to Pierre (Gasly) and Franco? Yes, I think they will as well, because they're still the elite athletes that are driving for them in order to score the most points you can. "So, what normally happens, even in a turbulent time, is you still support your drivers. I actually think the learning is invaluable, whether it's in that team or elsewhere. A, it's time on track. B, it's time in a difficult environment, and if you come out of it, you'll only be stronger as a result. And Franco is strong, so I think it's still the right place for him to be at this stage."
