Vowles takes McLaren as example as he's the number one person at risk
F1 News
Since joining the team in 2023, Williams team boss James Vowles has been on a clear mission to bring the team back to the top of the table. Vowles, who left Mercedes for Williams, is aware of the team's struggles in recent years. Now, he has explained why it is essential for the team to focus on the new regulations era which starts in 2026.
Why are Williams focused on the future and not the present?
As of now, Williams sit ninth in the Constructors, with just four points. Last season, they finished seventh, with Alex Albon scoring all but one of the team's points. Although Vowles is aware of the short term challenges that need to be fixed, his focus very much remains on the long term. Speaking to GPblog and others, the team boss justified why. "The number one person that's at risk is myself under performance," he said.
"Myself and the board are completely aligned on this long-term vision. If you're not aligned I will short-term fix problems because I'm at risk as a result of it, and it's the complete opposite here. What actually has been requested of me is don't shortcut a single thing, even the fact delays are progressed by a year. Do the right thing for the company long term."
As part of this long-term plan, Vowles made the decision to replace Logan Sargeant with Carlos Sainz for the 2025 season and beyond. The Ferrari driver has experience in winning races, which is what the team needs. This season, the team has greatly struggled. In Melbourne, they did not have a spare chassis when Albon crashed his, which, as a result, meant Sargeant missed out on the weekend so Albon could drive his car. Nevertheless, Vowles made it clear that he doesn't expect his staff to be penalised for this: "I have an organisation every two weeks that gets a slap in the face and it's very easy to return to the now and very difficult therefore to look at ‘26, which is so far away. But I believe it's a self-satisfying problem,"
"I'm someone that is portraying internally. I'm not going to punish anyone for focusing on the long term as a result of the short term. That includes if our development rate halves or quarters, but what you're doing is capability and growth that allows us to have much better development rates in ‘25 and ‘26, do it."
Can Williams improve like McLaren?
Vowles concluded by comparing the team to McLaren. This season, McLaren have made huge strides in their performance, sitting second behind Red Bull in the Constructors. Although they have been able to capitalise on Perez's poor performance, the team have been consistently on the podium since the Chinese Grand Prix. They, too, knew it would be a longer process to get to where they wanted to be. "McLaren did the same thing, the sponsors on the car knew that was long-term growth out of it and wanted to be a part of it. And that's how you resonate around it. I think you surround yourself and people that have the same belief as you do," he concluded.