James Vowles reveals how Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reacted to the news of his Williams move

Outgoing Mercedes director James Vowles revealed that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and driver Lewis Hamilton are happy for his shift to Williams as their team principal for the upcoming season.

Vowles stated that neither of them had any hard feelings of any sort, and they were glad for his progress. He stated that Wolff's response was "the best I could have hoped for." He had been in talks with the Wantage-based team for a month.

Vowles said:

“Toto's response was the best I could've hoped for. He has been incredibly good in accommodating this change."

He also said that Lewis Hamilton was happy for him.

"That's amazing for James," Hamilton said for Vowles.

James Vowles had been with Mercedes since 2010 until now. He served as their chief strategist and was recently announced as Williams' new team principal after their former principal, Jost Capito, left his post in December 2022.

Vowles has spent 21 years in the sport, and in this span, he has been with many teams such as Brawn GP, Honda, and BAR. He held key engineering roles in these teams and had the same role in Mercedes four years prior from now.

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Williams have high expectations from ex-Mercedes engineer

Williams were once a championship-winning team, however, recent years have seen them go to the back of the field in the rankings. The 2022 season has been one of their worst seasons, with both their drivers, Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi, able to bring in only 8 points for the team, ending the season at the bottom of the list.

However, with Vowles' experience with Mercedes, the team is expecting a restoration of their prestige in the sport. Dorilton Capital Chairman Matthew Savage said (as quoted by F1):

“As we continue our relentless pursuit for results, we believe that the appointment of James reinforces our dedication to ensuring we have energetic, experienced, and strong leadership as we move into the next phase of transforming Williams Racing.”

Williams have a new lineup for the upcoming season as Nicholas Latifi is no longer a part of the team for the 2023 season and will be replaced by Logan Sargeant. With him and Albon behind the wheel, the team is expected to battle hard and get themselves out of the bottom of the rankings in Formula 1.