In his first Formula 1 race as Williams team boss, James Vowles himself did not expect to score points. “It’s a dream come true,” he says in his video review of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Alex Albon secured a strong tenth place there last weekend, while rookie Logan Sargeant was only two positions behind.
The point is “deserved” and hard-fought,” emphasizes Vowles. “I’m sure we can build on that in the next few races, and that’s incredible. If you had asked me a couple of weeks ago, it certainly wouldn’t have been on my list.”
“It would have been more about making sure we had a good foundation and a good car to build on. We’re in a fortunate position now. We know we can fight for the rest of the season, albeit Depending on the track, it will sometimes go better and sometimes worse.”
When asked whether the point win in Bahrain would change anything in the development plan for 2023, Vowles dismissed it. “Yes, we fought with a number of other teams. These are strong units that I know will come back.”
He addresses McLaren in detail, who started the season with problems. “In their case it’s hard to say, maybe it will take a few more races” for them to recover. “But our program is the same as before this race weekend.”
2023 remains a transitional year for Williams
“We’re going long-term, making sure we invest in the right skills, the right tools and the right systems to be competitive in the 2024 and 2025 seasons,” Vowles said. But that does not mean that the current car is not being further developed.
“We just have to balance this year’s development with the long-term goals. So our plan hasn’t changed, but we’re here to take every point on the journey that we can achieve,” said the Briton.
The ex-Mercedes man knows: “If you stay static, don’t improve or change the car, you will fall behind pretty quickly compared to the field. With this year’s regulations, the first thing we have to do is make sure we’re getting the most out of the tires and the so-called vehicle balance.”
Vowles sees Williams from behind in top 3
“So it’s about how the car behaves for the drivers. That’s our most important goal. Number two is very clear that we’re constantly improving performance. Aerodynamics is usually the main focus, but there are many other areas within the organization,” explains Vowles.
“And third, we need to make sure we learn everything we need for the years to come. We need to make sure we’re not just learning for this race weekend, but for future race weekends and the following season.”
As for the current competition for Williams, the team boss remains realistic. “If you look at Bahrain, you’d be inclined to say it’s the bulk of the field.”
“But we have to keep our feet on the ground. There were conditions there that suited us. And for a number of teams things didn’t go well that day. So I think we’re in a league with the three worst teams . That’s still encouraging because we’re going to keep improving.”