Williams team boss James Vowles and his wife make an appearance on the red carpet for the F1 movie premiere

Williams F1 team principal James Vowles was spotted with his wife Rachel Rolph at the red carpet of the European premiere of the Brad Pitt-starrer "F1" movie. The 46-year-old has quickly become one of the most influential people in the paddock ever since he took over the role at the Grove-based outfit in 2023.

Vowles, who was previously the Head of Strategy at Mercedes in their championship years, left the German team at the end of the 2022 season to take on the challenge of taking Williams F1 back to their glory days.

Since James Vowles took over the helm of the iconic British team, there has been steady progression in terms of performance and results over the race weekends. They are currently sitting in P5 in the Constructors' Championship.

However, ahead of the upcoming Austrian GP this weekend, James Vowles was spotted away from the office as he attended the European Premiere of the "F1" movie at Leicester Square in London. On the sport's official social media platform X, the Williams F1 was spotted with his pregnant wife, Rachel Rolph, on the red carpet of the movie on June 23.

Vowles indirectly played a key role in the making of the movie as he allowed the "F1" crew to use their wind tunnel during the shooting process in the middle of the season.

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Williams team boss reflects on his contribution to the making of the "F1" movie

Williams F1 team principal James Vowles stated that the "F1" movie crew used their wind tunnel facilities for the project's shooting and, in return, received payment for their services.

Speaking with the Times, Vowles reflected on the project and said:

“They approached us, because they could have done a [film] set from what I understood, but actually wanted to replicate or be in exactly the environment. It’s quite difficult for us nowadays to effectively extract everything that we need to [for Williams’ work in the wind tunnel], stop our programs and bring them in. It is disruptive, but it was for a really important project.

"There was a payment, but we didn’t make any money out of it. That’s not the purpose behind it, and nor would it be. Taking our own program out of the tunnel for four days is not the best thing that you can be doing in a competitive year. I really do think this is an incredibly important milestone in our history and going forward, so I wanted to be a part of it in some form or another.”

Given the limited amount of wind tunnel and CFD time under the current regulations, Williams took a huge risk by allowing a film crew to use their facilities; however they could take the risk given the amount of wind tunnel they had compared to its rivals.