a A week can be a long time in F1, where quick adaptations and quick reactions are required and often quite brutal. Any doubts about whether Williams team principal James Vowles had those qualities were erased this week when he summarily fired driver Logan Sargent, a statement and demonstration of his determination to return British F1's old house brand to the competitive side of the grid.
Vowles certainly has the engineering chops, to use his words, but there's also an unmistakable determination in his drive to transform Williams. “The one thing I wouldn't change about the way we work is being honest,” he says. “Highlighting strengths and weaknesses and creating a culture where that's allowed. When the truth is out there, there's no hiding, there's no fear. If you hide, whitewash or compromise, it's going to hurt you later.”
His desire to change Williams' structure has reached the team's front line. On Monday, Vowles had enough after a year and a half of poor performances by Sargent, repeatedly wrecking a car that the struggling team could not afford to repair. The American totalled his car in an unnecessary high-speed crash at Zandvoort last Saturday, and on Tuesday Williams announced that they would replace him with 21-year-old Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto. The Williams academy driver will make his Italian Grand Prix debut at Monza this weekend.
“He's reached the limit of what he can achieve,” was Vowles' modest but frank assessment of Sargent.
Sargent's dismissal was the 45-year-old's most public display of his dedication to his job. There was some surprise when Vowles announced he was leaving Mercedes, where he had worked since 2001, joining predecessor teams BAR, Honda and Brawn, and was integral to the team's nine constructors' championship wins.
Still, Vowles wanted to test himself and the role of team principal at Williams offered him the perfect challenge when he arrived in January 2023. At its peak, Williams won nine constructors' titles and seven drivers' titles between 1980 and 1997, but its last race victory came in 2012. Sold by the Williams family in 2020, the team had spent more than a decade in the midfield at best, or at the back of the grid at worst.
Vowles was seen as a key player in turning around the oil tanker, putting in place new structures, processes and people as part of a plan to be ready to race between 2026 and 2028. In July, he signed Ferrari's Carlos Sainz for next season, citing his ability to inspire and transform the team and his driving skills.
Alex Albon, who has enjoyed a resurgence at Williams and is showing the talent that was thwarted during his brief time at Red Bull, praises Vowles' honesty and clarity, as well as his ability to communicate and inspire.
“Williams is completely different to Mercedes,” says Vowles. “I'll write a book about it one day. Yes, we both build race cars, but that's pretty much where the similarities end.”
He cites the family atmosphere of the team, born from the ethos instilled by Frank Williams as founder in 1977, as a strength, but believes a lack of organisation has prevented the company from producing long-term results.
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“When we asked people to join forces to update, some people came and slept in the factory with sleeping bags to provide what was asked for,” he said. “They do their best, but it happens in bursts, and at the end of the burst they're totally exhausted, because it's a big moment and it's not sustainable.”
For a long time, the team has operated without looking beyond next year, or more often than next month. But their enthusiasm is what drives them forward, and Vowles believes they can harness it. “Imagine how powerful we could be if we had some structure in place,” he says. “You'd have a powerful organization behind it.”
His single-mindedness is a principle of success that can be found in, notably, Sir Frank himself, and he has demonstrated it with decisive action this week, but it is the long-term change that will bring about real change at Williams that drives him – another trait he shares with the team's founder.
“There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about, even when I'm with my lovely family and my lovely daughter, that I don't think about, 'How do I get back to work and get started?'” he said. “'What am I going to do tomorrow to make a difference in this organization?' It's a crazy thought process, but it means so much to me.”
