‘Williams is so different to Mercedes’: James Vowles on reviving British F1 team | Williams

A A week can be a long time in Formula 1, as the sport demands rapid adaptation and rapid reaction, often tinged with no small amount of ruthlessness. Any doubts that Williams team boss James Vowles possessed such qualities were dispelled this week when he summarily parted ways with his driver Logan Sargeant. It was a statement of intent and a demonstration of his commitment to returning the old British F1 marque to the competitive end of the grid.

Vowles is undoubtedly seen as the engineer in him, in his words, but there is an undeniable determination in his attitude to transforming Williams. “What I won’t change about the way I work is being honest,” he says. “You highlight the strengths and weaknesses and create a culture where it’s okay to do that. Because the truth is on the table, there’s nothing to hide behind, but also nothing to be afraid of. If you hide something or sugarcoat something or accept a compromise, it will come back to bite you in the ass later.”

His desire to change the structure at Williams was thrown into the team’s face. On Monday, after a season and a half of underperformance and repeated wrecking of cars that the struggling team could ill afford to repair, Vowles had had enough. The American had totaled his car in an unnecessary high-speed crash at Zandvoort on Saturday and on Tuesday Williams announced that he would be replaced by Franco Colapinto, a 21-year-old Argentine rookie. The Williams academy driver makes his debut at the Italian GP in Monza this weekend.

“He had reached the limit of what he could achieve,” was Vowles’s understated but blunt assessment of Sargeant.

Sacking Sargeant was the most public example of the 45-year-old’s dedication to his job. There was surprise when Vowles announced he was leaving Mercedes, with whom he had worked since joining Formula One in 2001 in previous guises as BAR, Honda and Brawn, and with whom he had played a vital role in securing nine constructors’ championships.

Still, Vowles was keen to test himself, and the team leadership role at Williams could not have been more challenging when he arrived in January 2023. In their glory days, Williams won nine constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ titles between 1980 and 1997, but their last race win came in 2012. The team, which was sold by the Williams family in 2020, has spent more than a decade rooted at best in the midfield and at worst at the back of the grid.

Vowles was seen as a key player in turning the oil tanker around, instituting new structures and processes and hiring new staff as part of his plan to be able to start competing from 2026-2028. In July, he signed Carlos Sainz from Ferrari for next season, as much for his ability to motivate and transform a team as for his skills behind the wheel.

Alex Albon, who is enjoying a revival at Williams and showing the talent he failed to develop in his short time at Red Bull, praised Vowles’ honesty and clarity, and his ability to communicate and inspire.

Vowles says: “Williams is – and I’ll write a book about this one day – so different to Mercedes. Yes, we both build racing cars, but the similarities pretty much end there.”

He cites the team’s sense of family, which stems from the ethic that Frank Williams introduced to the team as its founder in 1977, as a strength. However, he believes the lack of structure has prevented the team from achieving long-term results.

“When I asked people to work together to do an update, there were people who would happily bring a sleeping bag and sleep in the factory to deliver what was needed,” he says. “They will give it their all. But it happens in bursts and at the end of the bursts they are completely exhausted because it has been a huge moment and that is not sustainable.”

The team had been around for so long that they didn’t look ahead beyond the next year, and more often than not, just the next month. But their dedication kept them going, and Vowles believes he can harness it. “Imagine how powerful it would be once we had a structure around it,” he says. “You’d have a powerhouse behind it.”

His single-mindedness is evident in successful principles, not least Sir Frank himself. He demonstrated it this week with decisive action, but it is the long-term changes that will make the real difference to Williams and that is what consumes him – another trait he shares with the team’s founder.

“There’s not a single day — and that includes my sweet family and my sweet daughter — that I haven’t thought, ‘How do we get back to work and take the next step?’” he says. “‘What do we do tomorrow that will make a difference for this organization?’ It’s a maniacal thought process, but it means so much to me.”