How James Vowles reinvigorated Williams Racing after a fall from grace
Nine-time Constructors' Champions Williams Racing had suffered a fall from grace since their title-winning years, but hope is not lost as the British team is slowly regaining their strength.
"When I turned up, it was still in that survival mode."- James Vowles
Last season, Williams Racing finished ninth in the Teams' Standings with only 28 points scored between drivers Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant, and Franco Colapinto.
This year, Williams is on track to finish in fifth place as their nearest competitor, Racing Bulls, is over 30 points behind.
With Carlos Sainz scoring Williams' first podium since Spa 2021, things are heading in the right direction for the former champions.
When James Vowles took over as Team Principal of Williams Racing in 2023, he was met with heavy financial burdens, a clunky and slow car, and a rotation of drivers that flurried in and out of the team.
Vowles left Mercedes AMG at their prime, having secured eight consecutive Constructors' Championships with the team across two eras of domination.
Before Vowles took the helm of Williams, the team was perhaps at its lowest point, scoring zero points for the first time in their history in 2020.
Claire Williams had sold the team that year to the American investment group Dorilton Capital for €152million, making it the first time that a Williams would not be running the team.
The Williams heiress shortly left the team mid-season, and former engineer Simon Roberts took her place as the interim Team Principal.
Little over a year later, Roberts was replaced by Jost Capito with François-Xavier Demaison as the team's Technical Director.
Williams went through another rough period, falling to the back of the pack, with just one emphatic podium from George Russell at the 2021 Belgium Grand Prix, their first since 2017.
In 2021, Williams finished in eighth place in the standings, improving on their point-less season in 2020, but 2022 saw another last-place finish in the standings and dug the hole a little bit deeper.
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The Sargeant-Colapinto era of Williams
Coming from a team that dominated two different sets of regulations back-to-back, securing eight titles in a row, Vowles knew exactly how a high-performance team operated.
The British engineer joined Williams with a clear goal in mind - winning.
He entered the team at the same time Gulf Oil announced a multi-year partnership with Williams, with Alex Albon renewing his contract.
2023 did not get off to the best start for Williams, with the team only scoring a single point in the first seven rounds.
Poll
By the summer break, the team managed to scrounge up another ten points in Canada and at Silverstone, but all of those points were scored by Albon.
Sargeant had only scored one point during his time at Williams and cost the team up to $4 million in damages from his multiple crashes.
However, Vowles gave Sargeant another season to improve, but he failed to score a single point in his sophomore campaign, and totalled up even more damage to the car.
He was swiftly replaced by Franco Colapinto at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, who remained with the team until the end of the season.
With Colapinto, Williams secured their best finish in the Vowles era, with Albon and Colapinto finishing in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
How Sainz brought hope back to Williams
When the news broke that Lewis Hamilton signed for Ferrari in 2025, Carlos Sainz was forced to find another seat in F1 and he eventually settle for Williams.
He joined Vowles and Albon in their shared vision for a reinvigorated Williams, and the trio have proved that Williams is back on the rise.
So far this season, the team have scored 102 points with Albon scoring 70 and Sainz scoring 32.
It has been a brilliant year for Williams, scoring points in almost every single round so far, apart from Bahrain, Spain, Austria, and Hungary.
In a brilliant feat, Sainz scored his maiden podium for Williams at Baku with a brilliant drive that cemented the team's progress in recent years.
During the Singapore press conference, Vowles lamented on the emotional victory: "I'm incredibly proud of Williams because it’s a team that has such a fighting passion and spirit inside it, but it was just surviving for so many years.
"Even when I turned up, it was still in that survival mode. Everyone has diligently, and with almost no obstacle put in the way, changed in the way we need to become competitive again.
"The reward wasn’t just seeing the mechanics and Carlos and Alex, who was right by my side for the podium.
"The reward was taking the trophy, putting it back in reception in the factory, and I went down every hour or so to see 50 or so people there. Emotional—tears, crying, laughter, happiness—it meant the world to them."
Vowles' vision for Williams in the coming years
Vowles looks confident in the path that Williams is heading down, with the financial backing coming in and the stability of Albon and Sainz for the next set of regulations.
The former Mercedes Strategy Director has laid down a solid foundation for Williams this season and is set to build on it in the future.
For the next set of regulations, Williams have chosen to stay with Mercedes as their engine supplier, and the team seem confident in the direction that Williams is going.
Speaking to El Partidazo de COPE, Sainz said: “Yes, I have a lot of confidence in the Mercedes engine.
"It’s actually one of the main reasons I chose Williams for this new regulation change. I knew we’d be running the Mercedes power unit, and everything I’ve heard about it has been positive, and still is."
It's not just Sainz that has brought hope back to Williams, Albon is having one of his best seasons yet with the British team.
Scoring the bulk of points for the team, Albon's consistency has been brilliant this season, and he currently sits in eighth place in the Drivers' Standings for the first time since joining Williams.
If the harmony continues this way, Williams could potentially challenge for podiums and wins next season - just as long as they keep fighting.
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