F1 news: Why Williams is smart to bet on James Vowles

Williams is off to a strong start this Formula 1 season, as they currently sit at the front of the midfield. After ten race weekends, the team has accumulated 55 points, which is good enough for fifth place in the F1 Constructors’ Championship standings and surpasses their combined totals from 2023 and 2024.

Now their Team Principal will be in that position for a few more years.

On Thursday Williams announced a new long-term contract for James Vowles, who joined the team ahead of the 2023 campaign. It is quite the birthday present for Vowles, who will celebrate his 46th birthday on Friday.

“We are thrilled that James has signed a new contract with Atlassian Williams Racing and committed his future to completing the mission that we are on together,” said Matthew Savage, the Chairman of Atlassian Williams Racing and Dorilton Capital. “He has brought experience, energy and strategic leadership to the task of restoring Williams to the top step of the podium. We aren’t there yet but you can sense the momentum we are building at Grove and are excited about what lies ahead.”

Given the results to date, and the transformation at Williams, signing Vowles to a long-term extension seems like a wise investment for the team. Williams joined the Formula 1 grid for the 1978 season and enjoyed a tremendous run of form during the 1980s, as the team won their first Constructors’ Championship in 1980. The team has won a total of nine Constructors’ Championships (1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997) as well as seven Drivers’ titles.

However, as you can see in this chart below (courtesy of F1 Standings) it has been a while since Williams has enjoyed similar success. Their last finish inside the top three in the Constructors’ Championship was in 2015 when they finished third. A fifth-place finish would represent their best result since 2017, when they finished fifth.

Since that season the team has been stuck at the back of the grid:

Vowles has brought a bold vision to the team, one that he stressed ahead of the 2024 campaign. Speaking with the media, including SB Nation, in New York City as the team launched their 2024 challenger Vowles outlined how transforming the team sometimes comes down to breaking everything, and not being afraid to fail.

“So everything is about long-term resolution, not short-term [and] as the result of that is that we took and we will continue to take enormous risks with this company. I’m not going to be withheld by the restriction that my job is on the line,” said Vowles in February of 2024. “If we’re not doing a good enough job, the only way to get this team back to the front is [to] break everything.

“I’ve used the terms internally and ‘break the cycle’ and it’s exactly what we are doing, whatever we have done before that, even what we’ve done the last two months. I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved.

“It’s not good enough.

“This is what it looks like and how do we get there, and it’s just giving everyone the idea of ‘this is the gap.’ I’ll be with you on this journey and I’ll be shouldering it if things go wrong. But take that as an opportunity to not be withheld by fear of change and a fear of failure that goes with it.”

While there have been some setbacks along the way — including sticking with Logan Sargeant for the start of the 2024 season before replacing him with Franco Colapinto — there is no denying the upward trend at Williams. The team inked the best available driver on the transfer market this past season in Carlos Sainz Jr., who has made it clear that Vowles’ vision is a reason he joined Williams. Speaking with SB Nation following qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix, Sainz spoke about that vision, and his trust in Vowles.

“I like [James Vowles] because he’s a man of a very clear [vision]. He has a plan and he will commit 100% to it. He trusts his feelings, his plan, his project,” said Sainz in May.

“And I back him.

“That’s why I committed to James as an individual but also as a team to Williams because I see a project and a very clear ambition, very clear targets, and we need to commit to them and stick to them.

“He also promised me this year’s car would be an improvement to last year and so far he’s been a man of his word and I’m glad that that’s going in the right direction.”

Now the entire team is betting on that vision.

I am delighted to sign a new contract with Atlassian Williams Racing, which has felt like home from the moment I walked through the door,” said Vowles in a statement Thursday. “This iconic team has already given me some incredible memories and we are all united in our ambition to build on our legacy and win World Championships again.

“Over the past two years we have focused on fixing the foundations, and now have a platform to go for glory in the years to come.”