James Vowles, Team Principal at Williams for the past year, recalls a visit to the Grove factory and reveals where Williams is stronger than Mercedes
Williams team principal James Vowles is aware that the team from Grove still has a long way to go before it can compete for top positions in Formula 1 again. He expects to see more sustainable improvements from 2025 onwards before the team makes a big leap the following year.
Finally, the changes and investments that were initiated with Vowles’ appointment to the team’s helm in early 2023 will need to bed in before they can impact the car’s performance.
These include the revised structure of the engineering department under the leadership of new Head of Engineering Pat Fry, as well as improvements to the facilities at Grove.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Vowles recalls a tour of the Williams factory just before last summer’s break, where he spotted a Ming Dynasty etching machine that was the size of a Motorhome – compared to what Vowles knew from his time at Mercedes.
“I walked around the plant with Fred and looked at the changes we were going to make, in terms of the facilities, not the employees,” says Vowles.
“We looked at some of the machines. There was one machine that caught my eye that I had never seen before. It was an etching machine. Fred came in and said, ‘That’s from the Ming Dynasty, just so you know!”
“I said, ‘Oh, that’s brilliant, that’s good to know!’ This machine is as long as our motorhome. Normally it would be the size of a table. So that’s just an example of something I’ve never come across before. That’s what I meant by continuing to learn where we need to make progress. “
On the High Performance Podcast recently, Vowles also spoke about the early days of his tenure at Williams, noting that the Grove-based team could beat eight-time constructors’ champion Mercedes at one thing.
“At the beginning it’s really about finding out what our strengths and weaknesses are,” Vowles said of his first few weeks on the job. “Every organization has strengths and weaknesses. “There are elements here that are stronger than at Mercedes.”
“One of them is the passion that drives this team. There is still a family behind this team, and I like that,” enthused the Williams team boss.