"I had to make a decision for my life, not Mercedes life": James Vowles on why he joined Williams

Williams F1 team principal James Vowles decided to join the Grove-based team and leave Mercedes as he felt his professional growth had slowed down.

Vowles oversaw the German team as their head of strategy and helped them win eight consecutive constructors championships from 2014 to 2021. However, he decided to leave at the end of the 2022 season when he got the opportunity to lead another Formula 1 team.

While appearing on the High-Performance podcast, Williams F1 team principal explained his reasoning behind leaving a highly successful outfit in Mercedes and leading a team on his own. He said:

"Not that I thought that this role would ever appear but if it did appear I thought I should have the maximum amount of exposure to jump into it. Toto is incredible at what he does and has many more years as the best or one of the best team principals on the grid.

"I had to make a decision for my life, not Mercedes's life and that decision came when I swiftly realized that the actual growth opportunities and learnings I have was slowing at Mercedes."

James Vowles chimes in on the advice he received from Mercedes team boss

The Williams F1 team principal stated that he received very direct advice from his former boss Toto Wolff whilst joining the Grove-based team.

Vowles pointed out that he was following the advice that received from Wolff and said:

"I think he said 'Don't be s**t' was his advice! Which I'm trying to do... Other than that, he knows that I've been forming for this for quite a while, so there was little he could provide for me above it.

"Toto was kind enough with his time to give me as much experience as he could, he knew where he was forming me. It doesn't mean that I had a job within Mercedes to be Team Principal there, but he provided me his time and knowledge and experience and more responsibilities."

Under the leadership of James Vowles, Williams were able to achieve their best result since 2017 as they finished P7 in the constructor's championship and maximized every bit of performance from their car when the track suited them.

It will be interesting to see if they can go a step ahead in the 2024 season and start to challenge the midfield pack for better positions in the races.