Crossing off Wolff's potential successor as Mercedes' team boss

For James Vowles, it was an important week. The Williams team boss extended his contract with the in-development team. In response to a question from GPblog, the Brit called it an easy decision.

While the cars in the Formula 2 championship were making a considerable noise in the distance, a satisfied man sat in the Williams hospitality area. Vowles, who joined from Mercedes, will be the boss of Williams for the upcoming seasons. “It [the decision] wasn't difficult at all,” he states in Austria.

"It was. I feel really at home here. It feels since the first, I loved my time at Mercedes. Mercedes is a fantastic place, but it just feels like home here. And what I think we have to do first and foremost, we have to recognize that I wasn't a TP (team principal, ed.), it's the first job I've taken in that regard, so it's a large step up, and I had to prove to myself and prove to everyone that I was able to do it. And I think we're seeing evidence that it's okay.”

James Vowles doesn't want to leave Williams

Vowles and Williams aim for the titles

For the coming years, Vowles has sky-high ambitions: “So the next step of it is, I'm here to win world championships, and the next step of it is I'm here to win World Championships and the next step is the commitment to do we all agree that that's what we want to be doing and joined up in that regard and the answer is yes.”

So coming back to the initial question, namely whether it was a difficult decision to re-sign? “So it wasn't even a millisecond. I feel at home, this is where I want to be, this is where I want my career to be and I can see myself being here for the remainder of my career. That's how comfortable I am,” Vowles reveals.

Toto Wolff, the CEO and team boss of the Mercedes F1 team, saw Vowles as his logical successor for a long time. From the Brit's words, it is apparent that door is now closed. "Toto is an incredible individual but he's also very comfortable where he is at the moment and wants to be there I believe for many many more years so that direction parted three years ago.”

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