The 2020 Italian Grand Prix was the last race for the Williams family in their own racing team.
As part of the takeover of the team by the American private equity firm Dorilton Capital, deputy team boss Claire Williams and founder Frank Williams announced their resignations.
Although the Williams family hasn’t had much to do with the team since then, the team isn’t considering changing the team name to potentially take some pressure off the team. After Ferrari, Williams is the second most successful team in Formula 1 history.
“Williams is an icon and I see no reason to move away from the most iconic brand in the sport – apart from Ferrari -” says Williams team boss James Vowles, who has not yet spoken to Claire Williams after taking office at the end of February. “As far as I know, dinner is planned at some point,” he says when asked.
Vowles leaves the continuation of the Mercedes partnership open
After the announcement that ex-Mercedes chief strategist Vowles would be the new strongman at Williams, speculation immediately arose that Williams could become a kind of B-Team from Mercedes, after all the engines are already sourced from Brixworth. Claire Williams had always vehemently ruled out such a scenario during her tenure.
“We are of course happy with the agreement, which has been in place for many years,” says Vowles. “Mercedes has produced the best aggregate on average over the last 15 years. And there are Mercedes and other OEMs that we obviously check because we have to and we have to make sure we check the market.”
“We will make a decision shortly, but in terms of the relationship with Mercedes so far, they are doing an incredible job,” said the Briton. The engine deal with Mercedes will run until 2025, which would make a change possible with the new 2026 regulations.
Speaking more specifically about the upcoming decision, Vowles said: “It’s got to be this year anyway. Based on where all the teams are going to go, I think it’s going to be difficult to see teams that deviate from their current pattern after this year move away.”
Vowles: “That’s the key question”
Due to the increasing popularity of Formula 1, more and more manufacturers want to get into the premier class, which is also reflected in the engine registrations for 2026. In addition to the four current manufacturers Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Red Bull Powertrains, Audi and Honda have also signed up, although the Japanese are currently still without a team.
When asked whether one should perhaps radically change tactics and bring one’s own manufacturer on board in order to finally be successful again, the Williams team boss says: “This is probably the key question.”
“Anytime you take some advantage, there are other transferrable components that you could leverage from other OEMs. You win, you take a step up because they just reach a level of quality that you might not be at yet, but you lose the knowledge internally of how to do things at that level.”
“It’s a balance: in the short term it’s a step forward, but in the longer term it’s likely to hurt if you don’t get everyone on the same level. To win championships you have to look at who won them, usually it is a factory team and you have to be manufacturer locked to do it.”
Vowles: You have to take destiny into your own hands
“You have to have everyone behind you and that’s the difficult path we have to take on the way there. I think we have a real goal now. We know that with what we have now, able to move forward immediately and that’s goal number one,” said Vowles.
Since the 2022 season, Williams has also used the Mercedes gearbox, which would probably not have been the case under the previous Williams leadership as they wanted to remain independent. However, Vowles envisages the Grove team going back to building the transmission themselves in the future.
“At some point you have to take control of your own destiny, and you just can’t do that if you’re relying on others to supply parts,” he says. “No matter how good the components are, it’s very late in knowing where aerodynamics are going to go, and that’s usually down to the manufacturer’s decision. But for now, we have bigger fish to catch.”