James Vowles' Impact at Williams - Is the Revival Working?

With James Vowles's appointment at the start of 2023, Williams has been placed in a rebuilding phase, with the goal of returning to the front end of the field. However, with ageing facilities and antiquated equipment, the team's investments have been focused on bringing them up to a modern standard while also securing the team's future with Alex Albon's contract extension. With this renewed sense of direction under James Vowles. However, with the on-track performances lacking so far this season, the question remains: Is Williams' revival working?
Bryn Lucas is joined by Jake Boxall-Legge, who sat down with James Vowles to discuss the current issues that Williams is facing.
0:00 The Williams Revival
1:25 The State of Williams Pre-Dorilton
3:38 James Vowles Goals
5:49 Out of Date Equipment
10:31 James Vowles Leadership
13:05 Has the Team Improved Under Vowles?
15:09 Alex Albon's Contract extension
17:39 The Team's Future Goals
#f1 #williams #formula1
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[@chrispraz877]

Be hilarious if Bottas ended up back at Williams and we'd once again hear: "Valteri...it's James"

[@cliffthelightning]

I still have my Damon Williams Rothmans Hat, that 96 car made me fall in love with motor racing as a kid. If Newey comes back and gets stuff done i can die happy

[@luizansounds]

The rothmans Williams era has some of the prettiest liveries in f1, the 96 car specially with Damon's helmet and the elegant car

[@McRocket]

I don't know if he is helping WIlliams or not (seems like he is). But he offers (imo) fantastic commentary at the races. Both in interviews and during the race. He explains things perfectly and clearly. And has a relaxed, intelligent demeanor. I hope he does well at Williams. ☮

[@klaushaunstrupchristensen7252]

If they can bring Adrian Newey onboard by paying him with part ownership, then they will be able to attract big sponsorship money. Greetings from Denmark

[@thatguyfromcetialphaV]

Williams hasn't been on the rails since the BMW days to be frank

[@procatprocat9647]

.... to be Frank RIP.

[@johnbrett-smith2069]

2026 will see a big step forward for Williams

[@leonsshare]

Very glad he as an engineering mind is being able to build and put in place new well designed systems from the ground up. This will lead to good success in future. The reason they've 'regressed' this year is because of the ability of the other teams with more established systems to keep adding pace to their cars. The regs change hopefully benefits them with a strong PU, good driver line up and maturing systems when it comes to composites and materials manufacturing

[@Pyrope78]

"you lose a huge amount of points by not having a particularly good all-around car" I think F1 journalists should stop regurgitating what they are told by team principals, and start working things out for themselves. If you are a podium-challenging team you need a good all-around car to maximise your points. However, if you are a back marker team, there is no benefit to reliably finishing 15th and 17th at every circuit. Far better to have 6-7 circuits where you can finish in the top 10, and the sacrifice of finishing 18th and 19th at the rest is worth it. This is one of the most worrying things about Vowles at Williams. He doesn't seem to understand that he isn't at Mercedes any more.

[@YouTube2021FM]

14 to 2016 the only other Mercedes powered teams that were consistently there were all going bankrupt. Force India, Lotus, Manor, no wonder Williams beat all of these teams. That isn’t an achievement.

[@luizansounds]

We will see how good he is when the transition to modern systems are over and the engineers are able to have proper tooling to work, if his internal restructuring isnt BS and he manages to being good talent over that promise things will flow, but if its just talk we are doomed

[@jeffcole75]

soooo did we not record the interview?

[@alecbrown66]

I think it is working, slowly. Unfortunately we tend to compare them to maclarens meteoric turn about. But albon is constantly in q2, even q3, and nudging the main pack. The only issue is Sergent i am afraid, who hasnt done the basic, which is to match your teammate. But next year i think will be the jump to regular points scoring

[@viewed_by_heather]

definitely need to give Williams + James time. what he’s trying to do is going to take, I would guess, 5 years before there’s *significant* improvement (unless they ace the 2026 regs). it’s hard to see much with the smaller changes that have gone on so far but that’s because all the pieces aren’t in the right place. think of it like a really big 1000 piece (or more) puzzle; right now James has dumped all the pieces out of the box and is working on small little sections all over the table. once those pieces have been put together in big enough sections and start being put together that’s when we’ll start to see the full picture. think about the mess he came into, I cannot believe a company of that caliber was keeping track of parts in a spreadsheet. imo it’s way too soon to be saying “it’s not working”

[@mertcanhacfazloglu4862]

I won't believe they are a serious team until they have two drivers instead of one driver and one clown. That has been the case before and after him. First Latifi, now Sargeant

[@benoitbourdaire4194]

Agreed but easy to say. One paid driver is better than bankruptcy...

[@howlandgrowl]

How does a top heavy HR department help a F1 team? Normally dealing with anything HR is like trying to walk through treacle?

[@timmanto1022]

Is Newey on his way?

[@MooncricketsInc]

Seems like they have regressed since last year. Having to sit out one of your drivers for a race due to not having a spare chassis is hilarious and sad. Long ways to go for a 'revival'...

[@johnbrett-smith2069]

Plenty of teams start the season without a spare chassis though

[@MooncricketsInc]

@@johnbrett-smith2069 Plenty of teams have to sit out one of their drivers for a race?

[@Roberto-ic6yu]

Audio?

[@yellow6ird]

Yes it has. They're rebuilding a new foundation. Judging from results only so far is short sighted. I'll reassess them in 2 years time.

[@user-yy9hk9od9u]

Sargeant needs to be replaced mid season.

[@bumblebity2902]

He stayed because of cash

[@f.kieranfinney457]

Williams is still a pay driver team.

[@martin9202]

Make no sense to replace him, unless Merc pays more… Williams needs to sort things out within the team then they can make next step

[@johnbrett-smith2069]

​@@bumblebity2902he stayed because there isn't a better option available atm

[@Hoontear]

Sargeant isn't a pay driver. He couldnt even afford to drive F2 without Williams paying for him

[@procatprocat9647]

2:40 Rich Energy didnt get mentioned by name. Is the court case still ongoing?

[@Tjescoo]

Did that name ever truly exist?

[@procatprocat9647]

@@Tjescoo yes! Even the drinks existed!

[@Tjescoo]

​@@procatprocat9647One can per produced monocoque 😂

[@Ziyaggy]

I understand the stability of going with Mercedes power units, but they need a works engine deal to get ahead.

[@bumblebity2902]

McLaren story shows, this is not just the engine like used to be in the begining V6t hybrid era.

[@mutleyeng]

F1 has changed, engine supplies can't get away with customers getting down on power units or engine maps that not optimum. The FIA have issued a dictate and they are watching

[@procatprocat9647]

Their issues are more fundamental than that. Also, as the other guy said, look at McLaren. F1 has changed.

[@procatprocat9647]

Williams is guilty of taking too much in-house. Not too little. They built their own gearb9xes for zero benefit but to massive detriment. That's just one example. A lack of data flow management system is almost criminal in a proper Engineering company. The engine supplier is totally the wrong focus

[@coreykrause6122]

It's going to 2-3 years before we see a noticeable improvement.

[@marcpaola1371]

James impact at williams have taking them backwards. Cant get to the test sessions on time, no 3rd spare chassis, no parts and employed two crash prone drivers. Yes you read right, Slbon has done more crash damage than sargent this year.

[@gerardcrabb4556]

Maybe a customer deal with Honda would help them as Mercedes no longer at the top... Talks with Newey might be challenge for him to come on-board has experience with Honda...

[@stfu7203]

James Vowles' Impact at Williams - With James Vowles Junior.

[@smplyizzy]

Claire Williams had no idea what she was doing.

[@camillaquelladegliaggettiv4303]

Claire signed Pat Symonds and got the Mercedes engines, which lead to Williams' best seasons since the BMW days

[@f.kieranfinney457]

Frank wasn’t doing great either just prior.

[@proesterchen]

James Vowles has done a fantastic job turning WIlliams into a team that doesn't finish its 3rd monocoque until several months into the season and keeps racing, whenever monocoques are available for both drivers, heavily overweight, losing performance at every turn. (and on every straight, too)

[@Lennon6412]

They've regressed this season but I still have faith in Vowles

[@f.kieranfinney457]

If the team and its Principal weren’t British, would you be so generous? I think not.

[@adamsmith2758]

Two Brits discussing “how Williams is doing” is about as honest and unbiased as American politicians telling you how good they are doing… they have been embarrassing.. there, interview over. If this was Ferrari, or Haas, RB, etc., this would be a hit piece

[@luizansounds]

I afford them the benefit of the doubt because they are going trough the implementation of new systems internally that make developing the car more complicated (because of the implementation of new things while dealing with legacy software and tooling)

[@mutleyeng]

The hard reality is, they appear to have gone backwards since he arrived. Maybe he has made changes for the better under the hood, but so far they are not showing on track

[@user-rx6eg8bl1s]

no it's a name they need to change get a new start new name big sponsor rights

[@_Diamond-Dog]

Its doriton not Williams

[@Lexington125]

Revival my arse. Bad form taking the car from LS & giving to AA, destroying any confidence LS may have been holding onto so early in the season, a real kick in the nuts, not good leadership at all. Vowels Williams are a laughing stock, being greased by Yuki and the Hulk race in race out.

[@matthewpotter8491]

LS is woeful and not good enough to be in F1 anyway. Was super lucky to get a second season (likely as no one else was available). He will be gone soon (maybe even before the end of the season).

[@Lexington125]

@@matthewpotter8491I agree he is hopeless , however it was still a crap piece of management from Voweles, why give him the drive anyway if your going to undermine him within a couple of races , I mean we all realised he’s no good , what’s Voweles seeing we aren’t to give him an extra year ? makes zero sense.

[@Tjescoo]

​@@Lexington125So why did Mercedes decline so much after Vowles left, while Williams progressed?

[@sandratracy1378]

I totally agree with your statement. According to James, Logan was keeping up with Alex and then they take his car. Punishing a man for another man's actions never ends well. Logan handled it publicly with grace, however it's been down hill from there, his spirit was crushed. I also believe F1 has a bit of a bias against Logan in general and that can't be good for the psyche either.

[@marcpaola1371]

Yep and Albon has also done more crash damage this year than Sargent. If James was serious he would have replaced both drivers

[@Haizenmaier]

He talks nice, that’s all.

[@FourFour2theFloor]

Dude always has the most confused look on his face

[@upthebracket26]

TLDR: no. A joke team

[@maralynthomson4375]

No.

[@maralynthomson4375]

Forgot to prefix the comment with Vowles "First and foremost"

[@utube321piotr]

Toto got rid of James V making sure Williams will never threaten Benz. The man is clueless and the Excel-gate this season drove this message home. He can talk a good and hollow virtue talk. Feel sorry for Albon, he is just going to waste his career in 15th place.

[@procatprocat9647]

James is doing a great job to rid the company of Excel. What are you talking about????? Excel is ingrained into williams F1, as unbelievable as it might seem. Williams and Excel are a historical issue that James is correcting. If you've ever worked in a top flight Engineering company, you'll know that changing systems on such a fundamental level is extremely challenging and costly in all senses of the word. Albon chose to sign. It was his choice. Nobody forced him. He could have got a drive elsewhere if he wanted. 'Feeling sorry for' Albon is incredibly naive.

[@utube321piotr]

@@procatprocat9647 There is no evidence to support your claims. Williams is still in deep wanker land and considering nearly 2 yrs at the helm the progress is a regress. The man is lost, can't hit his behind with both hands.

[@utube321piotr]

@@procatprocat9647 Zero evidence of this "great job"

[@procatprocat9647]

@utube321piotr that's just because you can only see race results. If you had visibility of the structure and ethos within Williams F1, you would be singing his praises. He has a 5+ year challenge on his hands. Go back to your dts and return in a few years time.

[@sz5876]

😢Alex seems to be a grown adult, yet he can't pronounce three😮 correctly. I get that his family wasn't RP, but surely he's not an idiot and can pronounce TH sounds like a normal Englishman. Hint, TH isn't pronounced with an F.

[@YoSoyTorViK]

RP?