Latest news with #JamesVowles
The Herald
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Herald
Hamilton aims to break podium drought at Silverstone
Until now Hamilton has always raced here with British teams, first McLaren and then Mercedes. 'I don't know what to expect this weekend,' he said. 'Thursday is the same as always, it's the least enjoyable day of the week and this always is the case. You just want to be in the car. I can't wait for Friday. 'I'm sure driving on track for the first time in a red car in Silverstone is going to be unique and special in its own way. 'We have the best fans here at the British Grand Prix and for a British driver they make a difference. I've shown that to you time and time again. I hope this weekend they can make a difference for us as well.' James Vowles, the Williams team boss who previously worked with Hamilton at Mercedes, had no doubt the Briton could win on Sunday. 'He's special at Silverstone, he reacts well to local crowds and how the atmosphere is around him. Short answer: yes,' he told Reuters.
New York Times
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
A Reinvigorated Williams Climbs Into Fifth Place in Formula 1
Williams, a powerhouse in the 1980s and '90s before faltering the last few years, is having a resurgence. The team, which has won 114 Grands Prix, nine constructors' titles and seven drivers' championships, is now fighting for fifth place. That would be its highest finish since 2017. 'We put work into this, but what you see today is just the result of getting a thousand people pointing in the right way, with some basic foundations in place,' James Vowles, the team principal, said in an interview in May. 'I'm happy with the progress we're showing, as it shows the direction for the future.' The team, which finished last four times from 2018 to 2022, went through a long period of financial strife, fears of collapse and a major change in ownership from the founding Williams family to a New York-based investment firm. With the ownership of the firm, Dorilton Capital, which bought Williams in 2020, and the stewardship of Vowles, whose contract was renewed last month, a fallen giant is beginning to reawaken. It has 55 points this year, already more than it amassed from 2022 to 2024. 'If you had asked me a year ago, when I signed the contract, that in some qualifyings we would be only three-tenths off pole and beating a Ferrari or Red Bull or Mercedes, I would have definitely signed the contract even earlier and even happier,' said Carlos Sainz, who moved over from Ferrari after it signed Lewis Hamilton for this year. 'The team is on a very strong trajectory.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Telegraph
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
James Vowles interview: I have no idea why Christian Horner calls me ‘The Reverend'
James Vowles can still remember the first time he went to Silverstone as if it was yesterday. He and his friend Luciano, with whom he grew up in Geneva, went on what he calls 'something of a pilgrimage' to the Northamptonshire circuit. By chance Williams were testing that day. 'I remember it perfectly,' Vowles says. 'I remember the sound, I remember the feeling, I remember the vibrations in my chest. We stood there for half an hour, on the fence, just in awe. This would have been 1996 or 1997, when I was 17 or 18. It was basically that famous Rothmans Williams car. That's what we were looking at and it was fantastic. I've still got the photos somewhere.' It is funny how life turns out. What would Vowles have said if someone had come up to him that day and told him that nearly 30 years later he would return to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix as team principal of Williams, charged with returning the once-great team to former glories? Vowles practically spits out the Wiener schnitzel he is eating. 'I simply wouldn't have believed you,' he says. 'I couldn't even come to terms with the fact that I was seeing a Formula One car, let alone come to terms with the fact that I might one day work in the sport. As for running Williams…' Vowles laughs at the absurdity of it. We are talking in a restaurant not far from the Red Bull Ring in Austria – a popular hangout for Formula One teams and drivers, to judge from the identity of our neighbouring diners, plus the mass of fans camped outside. This is Vowles' world now, although he admits he 'still pinches himself daily' at the way his life has panned out. The 46-year-old had a rather unusual entry to the sport. Growing up in Switzerland, he attended the International School of Geneva, and speaks fluent French, as he demonstrates when first Laurent Mekies, the Racing Bulls team principal, and then Jerome d'Ambrosio, the Ferrari deputy team principal, come up to say hello during dinner. 'Every team sent me a rejection letter' The sliding doors moment came when Vowles returned to Britain to read maths and computer science at the University of East Anglia. 'I woke up one day and realised I was not happy – I wanted to change my direction of travel,' he recalls. He applied to all 11 Formula One teams at the time, and got 11 rejection letters, all of which he pinned up on his wall. 'Crucially, two of those rejection letters – from BAR and Williams – came with explanations. 'They basically said that I had an interesting background but I needed engineering as well to be employable,' he recalls. He promptly applied to Cranfield, did a master's degree in motorsport engineering and management, and contributed to a project that won the Prodrive Award of Excellence, for designing a racing car for the Jim Russell Racing School. The rest is history. From BAR, to Brawn GP, to Mercedes, where Vowles was a key figure in a team that won eight consecutive constructors' titles and seven drivers' titles, and now finally Williams. 'It's been an incredible ride and I consider myself so fortunate,' he says. 'Even five years ago, I don't think I believed I would be a team principal. At Mercedes, you aspire. But you don't want to go beyond aspiring because there are so many other people more worthy than you to run an organisation. So, no, I never did. I trusted Toto [Wolff]. Toto was the one who really directed me and said 'you will be a team principal'. Listening to Vowles, you cannot help but be struck by his intense earnestness. He can actually be very funny. But you suspect that it is this earnestness, this reputation for being a bit strait-laced and boffiny, that has turned him into an unlikely fans' favourite. He is very memeable. His famous radio message when he was at Mercedes: 'Valtteri, it's James', which always spelt doom for the Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, who knew he was about to be used as a sacrificial lamb for Lewis Hamilton, has literally become an internet meme. Comedian Jack Whitehall, meanwhile, had great fun at this year's F175 season launch at the O2, describing Vowles as 'Jimmy V' and 'the rizzmaster', and saying he couldn't wait to do espresso martinis with him at the after-party. Vowles takes it all in good humour. 'Jack is hilarious… he warned me beforehand and I found it very funny.' When Whitehall visited the Miami Grand Prix in May they ended up having espresso martinis together in the Williams motorhome. 'His was laced with alcohol, mine was not.' Vowles does not even object to Christian Horner describing him as 'The Reverend Vowles' on the last season of Drive to Survive. 'You can just imagine him saying: 'Dearly beloved…'' the Red Bull team principal told the documentary makers, laughing. What was that about? 'I have no idea,' Vowles smiles, before going on to admit he suspects it might have to do with his verbosity and mannerisms. 'I think there's two things,' he says. 'Do I think, at times, I over-explain answers? Yes. I think it might fall into that category. That's a negative trait and something I probably need to work on. And the second part of it is, yeah, I do try to act with virtue. I will do things with honesty and transparency. But I didn't take it as an insult.' It is an endearingly earnest response, which both makes Horner's point and shows Vowles in a positive light. Whatever the reason, as we head to Silverstone this weekend for the British Grand Prix, where McLaren will do battle with Red Bull and Mercedes and Ferrari, you can feel goodwill of the fans towards both Vowles and Williams. They want this to work. They want the return of a British icon to the top. What a story it would be. Vowles's conviction that it will happen is unshakeable. He may not consider himself a celebrity. He laughs about his appearance on the red carpet in New York for the movie F1. 'It wasn't for me,' he says. 'All these stars were about and I was literally standing in the middle saying: 'Anyone that needs anything signed, I'll come to you!'' But he is a workaholic. Vowles describes himself as a 'competitive psychopath' and you can feel that when he talks about his plans for taking Williams to the front of the grid, the hours he is prepared to put in, even his relationship with his wife Rachel, a surgeon. He recalls their first date together in 2019. 'I was like, 'I've got to warn you, my work is my life, and I work really long hours.' And she was like, 'No, I work really long hours.' And I was like 'No, no, no. I work really long hours.' We actually went through it. And to be fair, Formula One still trumps it, but only just. 'My wife is unbelievable. She's one of the best surgeons in the UK. A double-first from Oxford who then worked in A&E in Whitechapel, then trained in plastics and breast cancer. So quite a unique individual in that she can diagnose breast cancer and then do the mastectomy and a rebuild afterwards. 'She's now doing a PhD on the use of mesh in the rebuild process post-mastectomy. Honestly, it's life-changing stuff. I just work in F1. She's the clever one.' The couple, who live in Oxford, have a daughter Elodie, who arrived 19 months ago. They are expecting their second child literally this week, which could mean an emergency dash from Silverstone. 'As you can imagine with me, I have contingencies,' he says. 'I've got plans upon plans upon plans… so we are sorted, including helicopters on standby and all sorts!' Nothing, though, will stop him returning Williams to the top. Although the Grove team are still behind F1's biggest beasts in terms of infrastructure, change is coming. Williams have the backing of American private investment firm Dorilton Capital, and Vowles sees no reason why they cannot be winning races by 2028. Already the changes he has implemented have seen Williams make a leap in competitiveness that means they are now fifth in the championship, 'best of the rest' after the big four. But that is not enough. 'Fighting for points near enough every race is great,' Vowles says. 'But I call that low-hanging fruit. The really lovely stuff is the stuff coming online in 2026, 2027, 2028… infrastructure and facilities.' Vowles smiles. He rejects suggestions he might be 'too nice' to thrive in the Piranha Club. 'F1 has changed. It's not the same as it was even 12 years ago. I don't feel I have to go behind people's backs, to the FIA or to FOM [Formula One Management], to derail their operation. I should be beating them because I am doing a better job than them.' He similarly rejects talk that Williams are no longer 'Williams' with Sir Frank now gone and no one from his family involved. 'The DNA is absolutely still Williams. And while I'm here, we will not lose the family feel. That is really important to me. I don't want bureaucracy, I don't want corporate to go and kill what we have for money.' And how long will he be here? What if his mentor Wolff wants him back at Mercedes? Or Ferrari or McLaren come calling? He considers the question. 'I really feel this is where I'll end my career,' he replies. 'It was the proudest moment of my life walking through the door at Williams. I have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in a team with legacy beyond pretty much every team, to bring it back to the front. I'm happy looking everyone in the eyes and saying: 'This is where I want to be. This team can be world champions.' And I'll be here when we do that.'
The Star
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Star
Motor racing-Williams see fixes for problems, hope to stay fifth in F1 championship
Formula One F1 - Canadian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada - June 13, 2025 Williams team prinicpal James Vowles during a press conference REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger LONDON (Reuters) -Williams are confident they can fix issues behind recent retirements and expect a car upgrade coming soon to keep them on course for fifth place in the Formula One championship. Team boss James Vowles told Reuters that they understood the brake problem that prevented Carlos Sainz from starting in Austria last Sunday and a fix would be in place for this weekend's British Grand Prix. "The Carlos issue, we're very clear on it, it can be replicated on a rig, it can be understood, and for Silverstone we'll have mitigation in place," he said. An issue that has sidelined Alex Albon in the last two races was more of a challenge but Vowles expected a solution by Sunday. "The issue that Alex suffered was such an instantaneous and rapid problem that it's very hard to replicate," he said at an event in London with sponsor Gulf Oil International for a fan-created livery to be used in Brazil. "Whilst the full detail of why exactly it's happening is not complete, we do have four or five different tests that will allow us to uncover that. "By the time we're going racing on Saturday/Sunday, we're in a good place but it will have compromise on the weekend." Albon has retired from his last three outings, in Spain due to collisions and a damaged car, and then in Canada and Austria due to issues that Vowles said were also seen on Sainz's side to a lesser extent. "There's evidence of it being on the other side of the garage as well. I think sometimes it's very significant and severe and other times it's more manageable," he explained. Williams are 19 points clear of sixth-placed Racing Bulls after 11 of 24 races and 107 behind Red Bull in fourth. Vowles said the upgrade, the last big one of the season, looked substantial on paper and would come either for Belgium or Hungary later this month. "We've been focused in the wind tunnel on '26, we've been trying to be clever about how we develop this upgrade so we'll see where we get to," he said. "We need to make sure the car is reliable, we don't have accidents and we operate it correctly with strategy, pitstops engineering etc. "And all of that put together, even with the car we have today, I'm comfortable we can hold on to fifth in the championship. At the performance step, that should only make our life easier." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Peter Rutherford)
CNA
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- CNA
Williams see fixes for problems, hope to stay fifth in F1 championship
LONDON :Williams are confident they can fix issues behind recent retirements and expect a car upgrade coming soon to keep them on course for fifth place in the Formula One championship. Team boss James Vowles told Reuters that they understood the brake problem that prevented Carlos Sainz from starting in Austria last Sunday and a fix would be in place for this weekend's British Grand Prix. "The Carlos issue, we're very clear on it, it can be replicated on a rig, it can be understood, and for Silverstone we'll have mitigation in place," he said. An issue that has sidelined Alex Albon in the last two races was more of a challenge but Vowles expected a solution by Sunday. "The issue that Alex suffered was such an instantaneous and rapid problem that it's very hard to replicate," he said at an event in London with sponsor Gulf Oil International for a fan-created livery to be used in Brazil. "Whilst the full detail of why exactly it's happening is not complete, we do have four or five different tests that will allow us to uncover that. "By the time we're going racing on Saturday/Sunday, we're in a good place but it will have compromise on the weekend." Albon has retired from his last three outings, in Spain due to collisions and a damaged car, and then in Canada and Austria due to issues that Vowles said were also seen on Sainz's side to a lesser extent. "There's evidence of it being on the other side of the garage as well. I think sometimes it's very significant and severe and other times it's more manageable," he explained. Williams are 19 points clear of sixth-placed Racing Bulls after 11 of 24 races and 107 behind Red Bull in fourth. Vowles said the upgrade, the last big one of the season, looked substantial on paper and would come either for Belgium or Hungary later this month. "We've been focused in the wind tunnel on '26, we've been trying to be clever about how we develop this upgrade so we'll see where we get to," he said. "We need to make sure the car is reliable, we don't have accidents and we operate it correctly with strategy, pitstops engineering etc. "And all of that put together, even with the car we have today, I'm comfortable we can hold on to fifth in the championship. At the performance step, that should only make our life easier."
