"It's a mixture of a rude awakening and how impressed I am”: Williams F1 boss James Vowles on joining the 9x champions

Williams team principal James Vowles revealed that he had a bittersweet surprise after joining the British team. The Briton was shocked by the lack of some 'basics' that are in place at other teams.

Vowles joined the squad as their team principal after a long and illustrious career as Mercedes' strategy director. The German team is known for their state-of-the-art infrastructure and software solutions, which Vowles claims are missing at Williams.

Speaking to the media, the Briton said:

"It's a mixture of a rude awakening and how impressed I am. There were some very much what I would consider basics that are in place in other teams and have been since almost 15 years – especially for example around certain software systems, software systems that allow you to properly understand where all your parts are – [that] simply doesn't exist [at Williams]."

Despite his initial disappointment with his new team's facilities, Vowles is impressed with the way the team has managed to assemble a car without the same level of infrastructure as other teams. He continued:

"As a result of that, what impresses me is that before I joined, they built the car you see in front of you."

Williams team principal on Alex Albon's crash at 2023 Australian GP

According to Williams team principal James Vowles, the incident that occurred during the early stages of the F1 Australian GP involving Alex Albon was not entirely his fault.

The British driver was performing well, holding a promising position in P6 and demonstrating impressive speed in the second sector of the track. However, on the sixth lap, Alex Albon lost control of the rear of his car, resulting in him colliding with the barriers and bringing his race to an end.

During the debrief on their social media platforms, Vowles explained how and why the incident occurred:

"What happened with Alex is very difficult to explain when you first look at the data. He went through Turn 5 and then into Turn 6 slower than his previous lap and yet the rear came around immediately and he lost control of the car."

"There's nothing he could have done to correct that. Turn 5 is full throttle in qualifying but in the race it is difficult. We, therefore, assumed he would have to lift. However, the car worked better than expected and he could just about get through that corner at full throttle."

With Albon's car performing better at faster circuits, it will be interesting to watch the Briton in Baku.