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Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Tom's Guide
I just rode a $2,000 electric scooter designed by Formula One engineers — and I'm actually tempted to buy it
What do you get when a Formula One engineer takes his talents and designs an electric scooter? I found out for myself when I took the Bo Model-M for a test ride in Brooklyn last week. This new electric scooter has an aluminum monocoque chassis and a unique steering system that makes it unlike any other electric scooter on the market today. But how does this $2,000 machine compare to the best electric scooter? I went for a ride with CEO Oscar Morgan, who previously worked for Williams Racing, to see how well it handled. Motor: 400W (1200W peak)Speed: 22 MPHMax range: 40 milesBattery capacity: 672WhBrakes: Sealed drum (front), Regenerative e-brake with e-ABS (rear)Weight: 50.7 poundsMax rider weight: 265 poundsDimensions: 47.2 (length) x 44.5 (height) x 23.2 (width) The company is slowly introducing the Model-M to the U.S. You can order the base model — which has a top speed of 16 MPH and a range of up to 25 miles — for $1,990 at Bo's website. A version with a top speed of 22 MPH and a range of 40 miles sells for $2,490. The Model-M is also offered in four colors — silver, gold, black, and chrome — with the latter three being a bit more costly. For example, a gold version of the top-end Model M costs $3,399. That's a lot more expensive than the best electric scooters, but the company doesn't plan to release it in large numbers; each scooter is hand-built. Lest you think it can't go faster, Bo is developing a modified version of the scooter that can reach speeds of up to 100 MPH. At $30,000, it'll cost you as much as a car, though. Unlike most every other electric scooter, the Bo Model-M has a monocoque chassis, which means that the outer shell of the scooter itself provides support, rather than an internal frame. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. So, there's no vertical downtube like you'll see with most scooters; rather, you get an L-shape that swooshes down and blends seamlessly with the deck; it's the sleekest scooter design I've seen since the Unagi Model One. A running light sits about a third of the way up the scooter, with a headlight in the middle of the handlebars. Partly because of this design, the top of the scooter doesn't fold down, which makes it more suited for those who have a garage to store it. There are two small design touches I particularly liked. The first is the Model-M's kickstand, which is designed that that you'd find on a motorcycle: It folds down on both sides of the scooter, so it's propped up level, and more securely, than a kickstand that's just on one side. The other feature I loved are the folding loops for a bike lock. These are located about halfway down, and pop out so that you can slide a bike lock through the frame of the scooter, and then fold them back in for a sleeker look. These loops also have a small tab at the top, so you can use them to hang a bag from the scooter while you're riding. The Model-M lacks a built-in display. Instead, there's a mounting bracket in the middle of the handlebars, to which you attach your smartphone, and use the Bo app as your dashboard. Also, the steering is a lot tighter than a traditional scooter — you feel a lot of resistance as you turn the handlebars to either side, as they automatically return to center. In some ways, it feels like the steering wheel of your car. While I didn't try it, you could almost ride the scooter one-handed, as you don't have to focus on keeping the wheel pointed forward. The Model-M is powered by a 400W (1200W peak) rear motor, which felt pretty zippy around the admittedly flat streets of the area around the Brooklyn Navy Yard; I'd be interested to see how it would fare in hillier environs. Still, it felt very zippy during my time riding it; the Model-M has two speed settings, so you can keep it at a lower top speed until you get used to riding it. Another conscious design decision was to forego any sort of suspension system on the Model-M, and instead rely on its 10 x 2.5-inch pneumatic tires to absorb any bumps in the road. It was definitely more jarring than full suspension scooters like the Segway Max G3, especially when riding over the cobblestone streets of Brooklyn. There's a lot to like about the Bo Model-M; not only does its design stand out from the crowd, but it's thoughtfully made; I especially like touches such as the folding bike lock. While I'd like to test it out further, the Model-M's steering is also unlike any other electric scooter I've ridden, and definitely feels more stable when making turns; it felt more like skiing than scooting. I do wish there were some sort of suspension, though. At $2,000, this is definitely a boutique ride, and, as it doesn't fold and weighs around 50 pounds, I would not recommend it for those who live in a walk-up apartment. But, if you're looking for a scooter that will make a statement, this is it.
New York Times
05-07-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
How Williams, F1's ultimate underdog, found success — and might again
The two-tone Williams pops at any Formula One circuit. The nose is covered in a deeper blue, called Heritage Blue, and as your eyes track the car towards the rear, it blends with a lighter blue, called Atlassian Blue — a nod to the past and present of the rebuilding team. Williams Racing is one of F1's classic teams. Only two other current constructors, Ferrari and McLaren, have been around longer. It's just two seasons shy of being on the grid for half of a century and boasts nine constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, all of which took place in the 1980s and '90s. After years as a backmarker, Williams is entering a new era, one where points finishes are more consistent and infrastructure is improving. Advertisement But it's an era still rooted in its origins. Former Williams Racing deputy team principal Claire Williams told The Athletic her father, Frank Williams, 'scrabbled and fought for a decade to set his beloved team up.' During its most successful era, Frank fought for his life after a car accident that left him tetraplegic. 'It is a team that's kind of seen always as an underdog that punches above its weight,' Claire told The Athletic. Frank Williams didn't come from a rich family steeped in motorsports. He was raised in a single-parent household until the age of five when, according to Claire, he 'was sent to boarding school run by monks.' And that is where Frank fell in love with racecars. Because his mother couldn't pick him up on holidays, Claire said one of Frank's friends 'took pity on him.' The friend's father worked as a used car salesman and would take Frank out in one of the cars each time for a trip around the block. Claire said. 'From there, my dad just fell in love with cars, and he left school in his mid teens, and he started hitchhiking around the UK in order to get to see racing cars.' Money was tight — he'd climb under a track's catchfencing during the night, avoiding the circuits' admission fees. He eventually borrowed a car from his mother to go racing. Claire said Frank 'would scrabble together money here, there and everywhere — doing deals, selling old car parts, whatever he could in order to fund his racing. 'But he wasn't particularly great in the race car, so he decided to become a constructor, and that's when he set up his own Formula One team.' Back in the 1960s, privateer entries weren't unusual, and Frank Williams Racing Cars entered the 1969 F1 World Championship with a Brabham BT26A and Piers Courage at the wheel. That's the year Frank felt Williams Racing's history began, Claire said. Advertisement Frank Williams Racing Cars saw some early F1 success, like a second-place finish at the 1969 Monaco GP, but Courage suffered a fatal crash in 1970 during the Dutch GP. Multiple issues unfolded and crippled the team. Claire said her father, Frank, never really told her much about this first team, as he wasn't one to dwell on history, but she did know about the struggles. 'There was probably seven or eight people involved in it. Teams back then are very different to what they are now,' Claire explained. 'My dad, he didn't have any money. It was my mother that was bankrolling the team back in those days, because she had a bit of money behind her. They sold everything in order to keep that team going, and a lot of my father's employees weren't paid. They just did it.' To pay them, Frank would give his employees one of his watches or suits. Claire said, 'My father was really seen in not particularly favorable light, shall we say, by his fellow team principals in the paddock. I think he was seen as a bit of a joke, and the whole team was seen as a bit of a joke. But, you know, I think my dad really had the last laugh.' Canadian millionaire Walter Wolf took over as majority owner of the team in 1976, and Frank left the following year and formed Williams Grand Prix Engineering with technical guru Patrick Head. Head brought the technical brilliance while Frank brought the leadership and vision for the team. In 1978, Williams Grand Prix Engineering's first in-house car (the FW06) made its debut, and it was competitive, as it qualified in every race and reached the podium once, at the United States Grand Prix. Claire said, 'The competition were like, 'Wow, what has happened to Williams?'' It became a two-car team a year later, and Williams secured its first victory with its ground-effect FW07, which replaced the FW06 partially through the 1979 season. Clay Regazzoni stood on the top step of the podium at the British Grand Prix after teammate Alan Jones suffered an engine failure while leading the race. Advertisement Williams went on to win four of the next five races and finish the season second in the constructors' championship. That breakthrough year gave way to a dominant team working in harmony. F1's history is filled with moments like this, such as the recent Red Bull run or the Mercedes era in 2014-2021. For Williams, its moment began in the 80s — and it came at the right time. 'Up until that point, bailiffs were coming around weekly. There was no money,' Claire said. 'It was not like Formula One today. The very fact that Williams survived is probably thanks to my mother.' Powered by Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann, Williams took the constructors' championship in both 1980 and '81, and the team's first drivers' world championship victory came from Jones in 1980, while Reutemann missed out on the 1981 title by one point. Ferrari, though, came roaring back the next two seasons, but Williams stayed competitive. Nigel Mansell came in 1985, the team's first British driver. Partnered with Nelson Piquet, they helped Williams win the constructors' championship the next two seasons. In 1986, Piquet and Mansell shared the podium seven times across 16 grands prix. But then McLaren lured Honda away the following year, leading to a downturn in performance for Williams ahead of what Claire described as 'one of the most standout decades for Williams.' 'The team completely dominated, and that was a case of punching above their weight,' Claire continued. 'Ferrari was in the sport, McLaren was in the sport, and Williams didn't have the same resources, certainly, but Frank and Patrick just created the most extraordinary team that literally just ate everybody else up.' Head brought a new name to the team in the 1990s: the now-legendary designer Adrian Newey. Together, they designed a car that kept Williams in its winning ways and capable of contending for a constructors' championship. The FW14B became one of the team's strongest challengers and 'introduced traction control and an improved cutting-edge active suspension system,' according to the team. Mansell and Riccardo Patrese secured all but one pole position in 1992 and won 10 out of the 16 grands prix en route to another championship, while Mansell won the drivers' title. Despite the success, the driver lineup changed heading into '93, with Mansell retiring and Patrese going to Bennetton. Three-time world champion Alain Prost and Damon Hill took over, and Prost thrived — winning his debut Williams race and securing 13 pole positions. The Prost-Hill partnership was as strong as Mansell-Patrese, and when Prost retired, Ayrton Senna stepped in, starting in 1994. But Senna died in a crash during the San Marino Grand Prix that year. Williams brought home its third consecutive constructors' championship. The team's dominance continued with two more constructors' championships, in 1996 and 1997. But things began to change, starting in 1998. Newey departed, and Renault left the sport at the end of the 1997 season. Williams endured two winless seasons to close out the decade. Advertisement Williams' two standout decades came at a difficult time for the family, as Frank suffered a spinal cord injury in a road car accident near Paul Ricard Circuit in 1986. According to Claire, her father 'should have died' in the accident, 'and he did die three times in hospital, and yet he came back, and he led his team to more success from a wheelchair than before the accident.' Building a successful team isn't simple or quick. Development takes time. You can spend weeks developing a part and it does nothing in the wind tunnel, which means the team goes back to the drawing board. Claire said, 'These race cars are made up of 20,000 odd parts and aerodynamics — which is the greatest, most single darkest art there is — and if you don't get it right, it is not the work of a moment to fix it. 'Aero, it is the result of more than 1,000 people working together in complete harmony. It's like an orchestra.' When someone messes up a note in an orchestra, the audience notices — and it's the same in F1, Claire said. She added, 'Unless every member of a racing team is operating at absolute peak performance all at the same time, you don't win races and you don't win championships, and if you get it wrong, you can get it really badly wrong, and it can take you an awfully long time to get back up.' Claire began working for the team in the 2000s, and privateer entries began phasing out, as major automanufacturers began investing. Williams brought back BMW as its engine partner, and, as Claire said, it should've worked. On paper, it looked strong. But 'there are a number of reasons why it didn't go in the way that I think either party wanted,' Claire said. They split by 2006, and the team began struggling. Williams jumped from engine partner to engine partner, like Toyota, Cosworth and Renault, and the 2008 global financial crisis impacted the sport, especially with sponsorships. As the decades progressed, different CEOs came in and out, and Head eventually left the team in 2011. Personnel and driver lineups changed, but it was never a matter of whether Williams would stop existing. Advertisement It wasn't the only team at the time that struggled. McLaren faced a downturn in performance as well but has since rebounded. Williams, though, hasn't recovered as quickly. But as Claire said, 'We had real instability.' From a financial perspective, the delta between the teams wasn't quite felt until around 2015 or so, at least in Williams' case. Claire took over as deputy team principal in 2013, and Williams partnered with Mercedes for its power unit a year later. This initially improved the team's performance. It secured multiple podium finishes in 2014, but the differences in spending power between the larger teams and smaller organizations, such as Williams, then impacted performance. Claire admitted the years leading up to her leadership weren't strong. But in her first four seasons, Williams climbed back toward the front. The team finished third in the standings, outracing Ferrari in 2014 and Red Bull in 2015, and held steady with back-to-back fifth-place finishes in 2016 and 2017. 'That was punching above our weight,' Claire said. 'That was the underdog and taking the fight to the bigger teams, and being not even the best of the rest, but being better than some of the top teams of the time. But it did become much harder from that 2017 season onwards, when the differences in spending were quite considerable.' Williams began slipping in performance from 2017 on, top 10 finishes becoming an exception rather than the standard. Come 2020, Claire faced the 'heartbreaking' decision of selling the family team to Dorliton Capital, but she said it was sold to someone 'who had the resources' and who 'respected its legacy.' Even with a new owner, the Williams name has stayed, something that's important to Vowles. 'It's paramount for me as an individual,' he said to The Athletic. 'I want to honor what was created before me.' Advertisement Jenson Button, who raced for the team in 2000 and returned as an ambassador, described Williams to The Athletic as 'the same as it always has been.' The family feel remains with Vowles at the helm. He holds periodic lunches with eight to 10 people from different departments across the company, regardless of hierarchy, and it has been a way not just for Vowles to speak with the team beyond the team-wide chats, but also for the departments to speak more to one another. It creates a communication channel that might not have been there otherwise, he said. It may just be one of the ways that he's managed to revive the team. Williams is working to update the infrastructure and bring Williams back to the front of the midfield fight. Vowles is focused on laying the foundation for a stronger future. 'I think Williams in some ways was definitely set in its ways,' Button said. 'It's probably wrong, but it takes someone like James to come in and say, 'Look, we're going to try and do it like this.' And people believe in him, and people trust. He's confident, very eloquent, and he's also been with the best.' Button won his world championship with Vowles at Brawn, and said he knows the work ethic he brings to the job. But to turn a team around, 'it doesn't just take one man, obviously, (or) one woman. It's a group of people,' Button said. 'I think there's a lot of very talented people here. Some of them really needed a bit of help in direction. 'And I think having Alex Albon as a team leader is key as well.' Albon joined the team in 2022 and signed a multi-year extension last spring, which will run until at least the end of next season. Throughout his tenure with the team, he's scored a vast majority of its points (42 points out of Williams' 55 so far this year and sitting eighth in the driver standings heading into the British Grand Prix weekend).' 'I know he had a lot of very good offers, but he felt that this is the team that could give him what he wants in the future,' Button said. 'It's not about tomorrow. It's about new regulations, 2026, and fighting for the world championship after that.' Williams made the decision to not update the 2025 car, pulling it from the wind tunnel on January 2, and instead focus on next year's challenger. The regulations change next year, giving teams like Williams the chance to jump ahead in the pecking order. 'Next year is basically a clean sheet of paper — you can redraw everything,' Vowles said. 'There's no carryover.' Advertisement Yet, Williams leads the midfield battle heading into round 12, with a comfortable 19-point buffer over Racing Bulls. It has faced its fair share of reliability issues. Albon scored points across four consecutive race weekends before suffering three straight DNFs. One of the big questions is when the rest of the midfield will catch up to Williams, as other teams haven't halted their development yet. Vowles told The Athletic last year that 'the development rate in Formula One is so enormous that you can see a team move from as we did, towards the back to the top end of the midfield within the space of four or five months, if you do the right decisions and the right development.' Vowles has long put an emphasis on 2026, because it's a moment when Williams can 're-establish itself.' He views it as a starting point for the medium and long-term goals he has for the team. '2028, we're not winning championships, but we're definitely pushing ourselves into a state where we're recognized as being one of the top contenders for the future,' Vowles said. 'And then beyond there is just how quickly we can make sure we get our process systems, assets in place to be competing at the highest level. There's still opportunity before then, but it's not something that you switch on overnight. 'It's a journey that you have to embark on.' Top image of Alex Albon and Frank Williams:,
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.'
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
How Sainz has helped raise Albon's image
British Grand PrixVenue: Silverstone Dates: 4-6 July Race start: 15:00 BST on SundayCoverage: Live commentary of practice and qualifying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 with race on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app Alex Albon says he "sees it as a compliment" that his Williams team boss James Vowles believes he has raised his game this Albon himself does not agree. "Maybe it's been a stronger year," he says. "But for the most part I still think I execute my weekends in a similar way."It's definitely not just James. It's up and down the grid in the paddock. It's clear that I've now got a benchmark which a lot of the paddock can reference."The raising of Albon's image is less to do with the British-Thai driver himself than with the identity of his Sainz joined Williams this season from Ferrari. Everyone knows how good Sainz is - he's been team-mates with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc and been a close match for all of with the proviso that Sainz is still adapting to his new surroundings - car and team - Albon has had a decisive advantage over the leads him by 42-13 in the championship, in which Albon is the leading driver not from a top-four team. And he is 9-4 ahead in qualifying at an average advantage of 0.176 seconds."It highlights the job that I think I'm capable of," Albon the same time, the 29-year-old says: "I would say that my motivation doesn't come from that."I have a quick car now and I go into every race nowadays expecting points. So there's a totally different mind shift."I remember the previous few years, there were maybe six races on the calendar where it was almost like, 'OK, here we go, this is our chance.'"And I don't want to say the other races were throwaways, but the consistency of drive, motivation and expectation this year is at a far higher level because every race is an opportunity." Why switching cars can be like changing golf clubs When he joined Williams in 2022 - as a replacement for George Russell when his friend moved to Mercedes - it was something of a had been a circuitous route to F1. A childhood karting rival of Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc, for a long time it looked as if F1 might pass Albon finally made it in 2019, offered a seat by Red Bull in their second team. Within half a season, after a series of strong performances for Toro Rosso, he was promoted to the main team alongside performances in the second half of 2019 earned a full season in 2020, but like Pierre Gasly before him and everyone since, he struggled to get on terms with the Dutchman and was dropped at the end of the a year on the sidelines as Red Bull's reserve, he won the Williams seat, partly on Russell's recommendation, but until this year he had been teamed only with second-rate drivers. Sainz's arrival is his first opportunity to show what he can do - and he has grabbed it with both Albon's performances against Sainz raise a thorny question. How does one explain how he can struggle against Verstappen at Red Bull, but now be ahead of Sainz?Albon says: "What it means is that in F1 it is easy for everyone to fall into the trap of: 'All the drivers are at the same level all the time, and there is no such thing as suiting a car or not suiting a car.'"And I think that for the same reason why you're seeing so many drivers struggle up against Max, just flip the script and put Max in a different car, I think he'd still be very quick, don't get me wrong about that. But I don't think you're going to see the same gaps that you see that he's putting on his team-mates now."And for the same reason, some drivers it clicks, some drivers it doesn't."I remember my first lap in a Williams, despite being down on downforce considerably to what I was used to, it still clicks."And don't forget that my six-month stint in Toro Rosso at the time was strong as well. And it just swings."I look at it like golf, even MotoGP is a fantastic example."These drivers, these players, they are always talking about: 'The bike doesn't suit me' or 'these golf clubs don't suit me'. And they're changing clubs, they're changing putters; the bikes, they're changing the feeling of the bike. They're always trying to pursue this confidence in the bike."But then in racing it's almost like we don't regard that and it's just everyone should be able to deal with everything all the time. The best drivers do. But that's where you're seeing differences." 'I'm very not result-based - it's always process, process, process' Talk of golf brings us to his partner, the Chinese golfer 'Lily' Muni says having a professional sportsperson as a girlfriend has an important impact on his racing "in many ways"."We use the same psychologist," Albon says. "We talk about our line of business in a very similar way. We have some very similar habits, in terms of our negatives and strengths within each other."We try to help each other in every way we can. And it's healthy. It's great to talk about what areas you're trying to work on, and we work on it together."We do group calls with our psychologist, and it's positive."If you think of it like this, clearly motorsport is a very mental sport, but I don't think there's a sport out there that's more mental than golf."I think golf psychologists are actually some of the best psychologists in the world, in terms of sports performance, because they've got too much thinking time."And it's an inward game, just like I'm trying to create within my motorsport world. And at the same time, their processes are so important to be on top of.""Process" is a big word for Albon. It's why he's not obsessed about his performances in comparison with Sainz."I always say that I'm very not result-based," he says. "For me it's always process, process, process. And every year I validate myself. I challenge myself on, 'am I preparing and executing my best self? Am I doing everything I can do?'"So that's why when you ask me, 'have I changed much? Is this year a special year? Have you raised the game?' I track myself and everything's about myself. So that in a way is very selfish, but it's my benchmark. I benchmark myself in many ways."I definitely feel like I've been able to execute strong races. I look at it mentally as well. I've been really exploring the mental performance of myself this year. Just, you know, in terms of dealing with (stressful) situations."I think I've been relatively mistake-free this year as well. And so that creates a good feeling, a good confidence within myself." 'Realistic' for Williams to be 'up at the front end' in 2028 The difference this year is that the world has been able to see it, because of his team-mate, and because Williams have moved upwards as a a shaky last couple of races, on the basis of both performance and results, Williams are a comfortable fifth in the constructors' championship. The impact of Vowles has been substantial since he took over two and a half years ago, and they seem to be on track with their ambition to get back to the how far along that path does Albon think they are?"We are a very different team to a top team at the moment," he says. "We're still on a journey to get there, and we talk very openly about the journey and our weaknesses as a team."I don't think we are, in all areas, at the maximum of our potential, and that's regarding the car performance. That's everything that goes on behind the scenes, the performance, the engineering."I don't think next year we're going to be in a position to fight for wins, and I think it will be very rare to get a chance at podiums, but that's my mindset, that's our mindset."2027 will be an interesting year, and then realistically, I know this sounds really far away, but 2028 is kind of where I expect us to be, up at the front end. I think that's realistic."
