Alex Albon secured crucial points for Williams with a strong fifth-place finish at the 2025 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and with a little help from his team-mate Carlos Sainz.

The 28-year-old started the Grand Prix from sixth on the grid, as he lost one place at the start to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after the race finally got underway.

Heartbreak occurred for Williams after Sainz crashed out of the race behind the Safety Car, which was brought out due to Jack Doohan binning his Alpine car on the opening lap.

The Spaniard lost control of his FW47 heading into the final corner, blaming the incident on a “massive torque surge” over the team radio.

With one Williams car left running in the race, Albon managed to keep the other Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton at bay for the majority of the Grand Prix.

He eventually pitted for dry tyres, along with many other drivers, during the Safety Car brought out by Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.

With a heavy shower set to hit the circuit, Albon and Williams chose to pit early back onto the intermediates.

This decision proved to be vital, as amongst the chaos and another Safety Car, Albon found himself in fourth place before eventually finishing in fifth place.

Team Principal James Vowles credited his team-mate, Sainz, afterwards for helping him secure a significant points haul in Melbourne.

“There was an additional strategist today and that was Carlos,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“His insight was incredibly useful on that transition to the inter.

“You saw a number of teams not sure, Carlos was adamant, ‘you’re gonna want to swap on that’ – and he was spot on!”

In a press release from the team, Vowles added: “I’m unbelievably proud of this team and I can’t wait to get to Shanghai in just a few days.

“I’m looking forward to what we can do across the remainder of the season.”

Albon hails ‘fantastic start’ after P5 finish

In the remaining laps, Andrea Kimi Antonelli overtook the Thai-British-born racing driver on his Mercedes debut.

The Italian was handed a five-second time penalty, initially bumping Albon back up into fourth, but it was later rescinded after a successful appeal from the German squad.

Reflecting on his performance after the race, Albon admitted he wasn’t feeling too “confident” in the tricky conditions.

“Honestly, it was one of those really awkward races where it never felt comfortable,” he explained.

“The wind was busting like crazy, the conditions were obviously so mixed.

“I wasn’t that confident in the race; it was more about making sure you don’t make mistakes and you knew the result was going to come at the end of it.

“There were moments in the race where I felt better and other moments of the race where I felt, especially when the wind picked up, where I felt like relative to others I was losing performance.”

However, he expressed his joy after the team managed to capitalise on the chaos to pick 10 valuable points.

“I think as a team, we really executed everything we could today,” Albon added.

“First race, it’s not easy to be dialed in, if you know what I mean, in terms of strategy and approach to the weekend.

“We executed everything so well today to get that P4.

“Just a fantastic start, and it just shows we’ve made a huge step from last year.

“These results, P4s, they’re not going to come around many times this year.

“We’ve talked a lot about capitalising early, internally within Williams, trying to make sure we take advantage of rookie drivers and things like that to get them points quickly and P4 today, that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

READ MORE: Alex Albon: Australia qualifying validates Williams is at the forefront of F1 midfield ‘dogfight’

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Upholding the legacy of the late great Sir Frank Williams is a key driver in the revival underway at his eponymously named Formula 1 team.

For decades, Sir Frank’s Williams team was a class-leading innovator in F1. Through the 1980s and ‘90s, Williams helped define an era for the sport, engaging in the championship narrative, driver-based rivalries and pushing the boundaries of innovation.

The team was responsible for stoking a fire and passion in generations of F1 fans one. That passion was passed down to me from my father as a child when I watched Williams as the outside challenger through Ferrari’s F1 dominance in the early 2000s.

But as the 21st century wore on and the financial costs of F1 skyrocketed, the family-run Williams team fell further and further away from its glory days. Sponsorship disputes and the gut-wrenching impact of Covid meant the Williams family was forced to sell to Dorilton Capital in the summer of 2020. A year later, Sir Frank sadly passed away, and with his once-great F1 team yet to turn a corner.

In 2023, Williams elected James Vowles as Team Principal and immediately, the mission at the squad changed. Vowels was adamant from the outset that his long-term goal was to revive the once-great Williams to become class-leaders again. Two years on and Vowles has made great strides, having invested time and effort to rejuvenate the team’s infrastructure and processes, lured a new title partner in Atlassian and the long-term driving services of the talented Alex Albon and multiple Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz.

With all these pieces assembled and Williams’ sights set firmly on success for the 2026 rule changes, I asked Vowles during a group media session following the launch of the FW47 in February if he felt Sir Frank would be proud of the direction the team is heading and how much of a motivator upholding his legacy is.

“The short answer is yes,” Vowles replied. “But let me put it to you in a slightly different way. This wasn’t the first day I put the shirt on with Atlassian and Williams on my chest. It was a few weeks ago when we did some filming and content. And I just took five minutes to be incredibly proud that I had the opportunity to bear his name and to bear Atlassian’s logo as well, and to be a representative of that in front of the world. We absolutely have a responsibility towards the late Sir Frank. I joined this team because it was the benchmark in the sport that redefined certain elements, for me, it brought me into the sport. And that’s why I’m here heading up Williams today. It means something to me, something very deep and personal. And answering your question, my goal is simply to bring this back to a championship level. And along the pathway, I want to make sure we do good to him, his name and his legacy.”

Alex Albon: There’s reinstated pride at Williams to get back to the front

Vowels’ words resonated strongly and spoke to the fact that Williams is deeply connected to its successful past, one curated by its incredible founder. Asking Albon a similar question in the build up to the F1 75 launch event in London, the Anglo-Thai driver revealed pride in restoring Williams’ legacy is something that has recently sparked, having faded away when he joined the team in 2022.

“It’s clear that obviously with Sir Frank, when he was spearheading the Williams team, the amount of success they had is different to where we are now,” Albon said. “I think the main thing is, especially for us at Grove, is to be proud and to feel like we have that desire and the passion to get back to where we once were. I think that time was quite a while ago now in many ways and so it’s important to revitalise and get the younger generation almost inspired by what the legacy was at Williams and seeing how we can get back to that position once again. You actually already feel that, I feel that within the team. I can see there’s a pride and a passion which I think two, three years ago wasn’t actually quite there. There is a different energy in the team and that’s kind of the goal that we’re going for.”

Sainz keen to bring Williams back to the front

One of the most extraordinary pieces in the Williams puzzle is Sainz. The four-time GP winner picked Williams over the might of Audi and stronger track record of Alpine, emboldened and persuaded by Vowles’ vision.

Sainz joins an elite group of drivers to race for McLaren, Ferrari and Williams that includes Nigel Mansell, Jacky Ickx and Alain Prost. 

“I think if you would have asked me when I was 10 years old and I started to fall in love with Formula 1, which teams you would have loved to drive one day, I would have definitely picked those three,” Sainz said.

More importantly, Sainz said that his desire to join Williams is to help restore it to its former glory and that stepping on the podium in blue would be one of the “proudest” moments of his career.

“I’m in my 10th year in Formula 1 and I’m joining Williams in a very important moment where it’s going through some key changes in its history and nothing would make me happier or more proud, it would definitely be the proudest moment of my career if one day I can be on a podium with this team,” he said. “I want to help that in that process, help this historical team. I think it’s the second most successful team in Formula 1, and being part of that process and being part of that ride on my way back to the top of Formula 1 is what motivates me and what I think you guys can tell. I’m happy, I feel supported by this team and I think that’s hopefully going to bring the best version of myself.”

Setting the fastest time during pre-season testing doesn’t mean Sainz and Williams will be on the podium just yet, but there is wide conjecture through the paddock that the team has joined the midfield frontrunners Alpine and Haas in the battle for best of the rest. The season opener in Australia will prove if that speculation is on the money, but if sentiment is worth anything, perhaps Sir Frank’s legacy is worth an extra hundredth on track by way of motivation.

READ MORE – Carlos Sainz reveals the gap Williams is missing to be F1 podium contenders

The post How Sir Frank Williams’ legacy is driving the team’s F1 revival appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Williams boss James Vowles insists that although recent improvements provide “low-hanging fruit” for improvement in 2025, this is “secondary” to the team’s long-term Formula 1 ambitions.

Since his introduction as Team Principal at the start of 2023, Vowles’ mission has been simple: invest in infrastructure, focus on the future and yield long-term results.

This is why drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon are locked into long-term contracts, why the workforce has swelled in the last 24 months and why the team went through a painstaking overhaul of its production processes ahead of the last campaign.

Although Vowles acknowledges that these changes will already improve the team’s prospects in 2025, his focus very much remains on making broader leaps in the years to come.

‘Everyone is aligned’ on Vowles’ plan

“Everyone is aligned, that includes Carlos and Alex, that we want to be winning championships,” Vowles told select media including Motorsport Week during the launch of the FW47 last week. 

“And to do that, you can’t keep just getting a little bit towards now because it looks better.

“What I can demonstrate is very clear progress that is taking place in infrastructure, culture, technology, that’s kicking in. 

“We’re moving into a new site, effectively, it’s still on the same site but a new building this year. 

“We’re bringing in, I think, what will be a benchmark driver in the loop simulator this year,” he added, hinting at Williams’ poaching of Oliver Turvey from McLaren. 

“We’re bringing in the tools and technologies that will come in this year,” Vowles continued.

“That was started in 2023. So, if you put your focus on the following year, you’ll miss out on that long-term evolution. 

“There are bits we’re doing today that won’t come online until 2027. That’s unfortunate, but that’s a part of it. 

“Along the journey, the fact that we’ve gone from 700 people to over 1,000 individuals means that you’ll have some low-hanging fruit in terms of just producing a better car, of having more performance being added to it. But I consider that secondary to the long-term investment to get us to where we need to be.”

Vowles and Williams still want the best from every F1 weekend

Despite seeing present results as “secondary” to the team’s long-term vision, Vowles by no means wants to turn up to a Grand Prix weekend without putting in maximum effort to yield the best possible reward.

“I go to the weekend, every weekend, as do the drivers, wanting to score every point we can,” he said. 

“What I’m more indicating to you is I want to show that on the track with evolution year on year, rather than specific races in ’25.”

Vowles was probed on how Williams seeks to avoid a period of stagnation as has occurred at Sauber.

Mattia Binotto said to Autosport after joining Sauber that the team felt “frozen,” focussed only on the forthcoming regulation changes in 2026 and its transformation into Audi at the expense of the present.

Vowles responded to the query theorising that Sauber’s predicament occurred over several years.

“And that’s the point,” he argued. 

“You look multiple years forward, and invest multiple years, you don’t hold back,” implying that the work done in 2024 will yield results for Williams in ‘25, the work this year will benefit next season, etc, etc.

It’s a big task to return Williams to its former glory, but Vowles’ methodical plan just might do the trick.

READ MORE – Williams 2025 F1 preparations ‘night and day’ compared to 2024 troubles

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Carlos Sainz revealed that Williams’ “bold” approach to unveiling its 2025 Formula 1 car was “night and day” compared to the setbacks the team endured 12 months ago.

The Grove-based squad emerged as the second side to showcase its 2025 machine last Friday as the FW47, sporting a camo design, ran in a shakedown at Silverstone.

Williams being able to turn laps at this stage represented a complete contrast to the problems that plagued its preparations with the FW46 in the run-up to the 2024 season. 

The British squad’s decision to commit to a revamped car concept prompted parts to be assembled late, culminating in numerous components starting the season overweight. 

However, Williams has averted disaster on this occasion as the FW47 has been produced on time and to the weight limit two weeks before pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Sainz, who has moved to the team having departed Ferrari, believes that the milestone is a testament to the steps that Williams have taken since to improve its processes.

“First impressions, honestly, positive,” Sainz told media including Motorsport Week. “I think, most importantly, I think this is a good show of Williams’ progress. 

“You know, I think, to be bold enough to prepare a test where all of our main partners, all of our partners are here, all the media is invited to see the first laps of the car, shows the trust that Williams has in their new tools to produce a car that is going to be here on time, is going to be working well like it did today, without any issues, and I think it’s a good sign. 

“It’s a good showing to the outside world, and I think shows the progress that Williams is intending to do, so proud of the first day.”

Williams preparations ‘night and day’

Sainz has come in alongside Alex Albon, who has been with the team since this regulation set began in 2022 and witnessed the hardship that Williams has experienced.

When asked what the team had told him about the improvement in production this time around, Sainz responded: “According to Alex and James [Vowles], night and day. 

“And that’s why I wanted to make an emphasis in today because do you think Williams 2024 would have been able to put a date like today and be confident enough to invite you all here and all of our big partners that we’ve recently announced to join us here? I don’t think so.

“And the fact that we are two weeks early of the test and all here and the car running and we’re acting like it’s normal, I think that’s good progress.”

Williams has overcome recent troubles

Albon believes the launch event, which included new title partner Atlassian, was designed to show the struggles that held Williams back are no longer prevalent now.

“I think more than anything, it just is a chance to show where the team have been and where we’re getting to,” he added. “I know that it’s a bit showbiz, but I do think that it’s great to see.

“We’ve pulled in some huge partners. Partners that are not only financial. there’s a technical element to them too. And so it’s great to have it.

“To have everyone in the room and really speaking about where we are, everyone’s cohesive in what they see in Williams and where we want to be. It’s a nice thing, as simple as that.

“The focus is still on here [at track], that’s for sure. But when I think about it, let’s look at last year. We had a car that we barely made the test.

“We were overweight. We were struggling around. We just about had two cars ready.

“This year, we’ve been able to do all of this. I know it’s maybe a little bit different, let’s say. But even in just an outlook in a year’s point of view, we’ve really transformed in that sense.”

Meanwhile, Williams boss Vowles, who is overseeing the team’s revival, expressed that he is heading into the upcoming season, his third at the helm, more at ease. 

“For those of you who saw me at the beginning of last year, you’ll see I’m relaxed, we have a car out there, it ran like clockwork, and on time, and on the weight limit,” he expanded.

“That’s an example of the good output we’ve been doing, it’s a difference to where we were before.”

READ MORE – Williams sees ‘a world of difference’ in FW47 compared to 2024 F1 car

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Williams Formula 1 boss James Vowles has revealed Franco Colapinto will return to the team in the future, despite his ex-driver’s apparent long-term agreement with Alpine.

Colapinto’s emergence upon replacing the ousted Logan Sargeant with nine races to go at Williams in 2024 saw him become an unexpected hot topic in the driver market.

The Argentine was consigned to vacating his interim spot at Williams to Carlos Sainz, but his exploits, which included points on his second outing, garnered interest elsewhere.

Alpine capitalised on the situation to negotiate a deal to acquire Colapinto, who will begin the upcoming campaign among the squad’s expanded reserve driver pool.

Explaining the rationale behind the decision to release his graduate to a rival, Vowles highlighted that Colapinto has a better chance of returning to the grid with Alpine.

Colapinto has been touted to be given the step up to a race drive at Jack Doohan’s expense, with a switch even considered plausible at some point during this season. 

And while it was indicated that pen was put to paper on a deal until 2029, Vowles has guaranteed Colapinto will be recalled to Williams once his stint at Alpine concludes.

Asked whether he could validate that it is a loan arrangement, Vowles told media including Motorsport Week: “It’s as I described it, really.

“There’s a period of time whereby I hope he is racing for Alpine. 

“The reason why we did this is that I wanted him to be racing in ’25 and or ’26. It’s the best chance he has is with Alpine, as far as [getting on the grid], that’s why he’s there.

“And I don’t mean that to the detriment of Jack. I hope Jack has a successful time. 

“But ultimately, Franco is my driver that I want back in that car.

“After a period of time, he’ll return to Williams. That period of time is not a line set in stone where I can look you in the eye and say it.

“But I can say he’ll be back to Williams at some point.”

Alpine giving Doohan a ‘fair crack’ amid Colapinto rumours

There have been rumours that a clause in Doohan’s contract will permit Alpine to drop him mid-season and place Colapinto alongside the more established Pierre Gasly. 

But Alpine boss Oliver Oakes has instead the Australian, who made his F1 debut at the season finale in Abu Dhabi in December, will be given the chance to prove his worth. 

“It’s been a little bit harsh on Jack, some of the stuff that was written by the keyboard warriors there, and he’s getting his fair crack at it next year,” Oakes said.

Oakes stressed that signing Colapinto “isn’t to put [pressure] on [Doohan’s] shoulders, instead explaining that it was done to “give the team options further down the line”.

“And for me F1 is fine margins,” he continued.

“There’s a load of people who are depending on a driver to deliver each weekend, and we need to make sure we’ve got the best drivers in the race car, not just now, but also in the future.”

READ MORE – James Vowles highlights initial impact Carlos Sainz has had at Williams

The post James Vowles confirms Franco Colapinto will return to Williams appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Williams boss James Vowles has been able to highlight several positive impacts new Formula 1 hire Carlos Sainz has had on the team.

Sainz revealed in the aftermath of the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix that he signed a multi-year deal with Williams, ending months of speculation over his future after Ferrari named Lewis Hamilton as his 2025 replacement before last year’s campaign had even begun.

The Spaniard was able to get his first running in a Williams car in December, driving the FW46 in the post-season test at Abu Dhabi and has since been busy getting integrated with the team at its Grove headquarters.

Sainz was also handed the honour of running the first laps in the FW47 as Williams launched its 2025 campaign at Silverstone on Friday.

Vowles, speaking to select media including Motorsport Week at Williams’ launch, was able to point to several benefits of having Sainz in blue.

“[He has] a really good way of working with Alex [Albon], especially when we look at control systems, so differentials, brake maps, etc,” Vowles began. 

Vowles continued by adding the experience of Sainz over the youthful exuberance of 2024 super-sub Franco Colapinto also has its benefits.

“[Sainz] brings a whole new dimension where Franco, for all of his skill in the car, obviously we were almost teaching him along the way what the control systems do. 

“We now have an expert in it that has won races, and that’s really brought the team upwards.

“Same with starts. Think of all the ancillary items, so not even driving the car. I can just see a dimensional change in how we’re performing from where we were before to where we are today.”

Sainz’s Abu Dhabi test brought ‘good news’

Sainz jumped from a race-winning Ferrari to a Williams machine capable of a handful of points in just a day.

Vowles spoke of how important it was to get the Spaniard’s comparison and was buoyed by knowledge Williams is heading in the right direction in terms of development.

“It was incredibly useful and powerful having him testing with us in Abu Dhabi because we were able to understand where our weaknesses lie relative to a car he’d driven just a few days before but had winning potential, and more importantly, make sure that the direction of travel that we’re in, which I’m pleased to say is correct, was on the right pathway,” Vowles explained.

“Carlos, when he tested in Abu Dhabi, gave us very instantaneous, correct feedback on all the areas we have to improve on. 

“The good news is it’s aligned with ours, and even more good news is there are areas where we have active mechanisms in place to rectify.”

The knowledge of Ferrari’s prowess carried into Williams’ Friday launch and Vowles said “What [Sainz has] done this morning is, again, he knows what excellence looks like. 

“He was in race-winning categories last year, in a car that was a benchmark for the whole of the year, so he brings that with him.

“But what he’s very good and able to do is digest that in a way that is clear and simple, so we don’t get lost, and it’s directed.”

The emotional impact Sainz has had at Williams

Beyond technical aspects, the arrival of a multiple-times GP winner at Williams has had a profound emotional impact at Williams.

Vowles said the mere presence of the Spaniard has brought with it a wave of positivity at Grove, one that Alex Albon has contributed to in spades as well.

“I see an organisation around me that is smiling, happy, whose shoulders are lifted because they can see a pathway forward towards success, and that very much has Carlos’s and Alex’s names written all over it,” Vowles said.

“This will not be successful if any one individual is above the team, that’s whether it’s myself, Carlos or Alex. 

“It needs all three of us, and then a thousand individuals pointing the right way with the sole goal of this team becoming championship contenders. 

“And that means along the journey, there’s going to be one driver or one individual that is doing worse one weekend or the other, they’re aware of that, and we’ve already had that very direct chat about it. 

“They’re very much in that mindset, furthermore, they came up with suggestions and ideas of how actually we can make this better.

“They’re alive with it, they know where they are, they know where we’re going, and the bigger goal is how to move the team forward.”

READ MORE – Carlos Sainz reveals run in Williams 2024 F1 car was ‘better than expected’

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Williams boss James Vowles revealed that Formula 1’s teams convinced the FIA to postpone the flexi-wing clampdown from Imola to Catalunya due to difficulties posed by the Monaco Grand Prix.

The flexi-wing saga was paramount in 2024 as a key development battle between the top teams, with the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull questioning the legality of the likes of McLaren’s efforts.

Despite imposing further monitoring and investigations, the FIA found no team guilty of breaching regulations and at the end of the season implied no changes would be made to the regulations.

That prompted a grid-wide development push into flexi-wings, but to the teams’ frustration, a new technical directive was imposed by the FIA in late January, stating the wing flexibility would be reduced to 10mm of travel under load-bearing tests – a reduction of 5mm.

The directive will come into effect at the Spanish GP, Round 9 of the 2025 season but Vowles revealed the FIA wanted to launch the change for Round 7 at Imola.

The reason being is Monaco, placed between Imola and Spain in the F1 schedule and considered a graveyard for front wings.

“It was originally, I think, Round 7 they were going to change it, but we highlighted that it had Monaco in between, and it’s really difficult for teams to effectively have the right stock of front wings for Monaco, so it got deferred back to the race after Monaco,” the Williams Team Principal told select media including Motorsport Week during the FW47 launch at Silverstone.

“Our wing effectively was already along the pipeline of production when the rules had changed,” he added.

Vowels reveals impact of flexi-wing clampdown

With teams confident the flexi-wing rules wouldn’t change in the offseason, the new technical directive provides a development headache for outfits to account for down the line.

Vowels revealed that for Williams the issues aren’t as prevalent compared to the teams at the top of the pecking order who are further along pushing the envelope of flexi-wing development.

“In terms of exploiting that area, I think you’ll find all teams are doing what they can, but there’s just going to be teams that are more advanced in that area than others,” he said. 

“I don’t think we’re market-leading in that particular area. 

“However, what I can also say is the rule change at round nine doesn’t particularly trouble me either, or trouble us as a result of that, and it probably will have a more profound effect on others.”

READ MORE – Key F1 development battleground set to intensify with FIA clampdown

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Williams launched its 2025 Formula 1 challenger, the FW47 on Friday at Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix.

Team Principal James Vowles and drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were on hand at Silverstone to kickstart the Grove-based outfit’s 2025 campaign at the iconic Silverstone venue.

Fans were able to tune in live via the Williams website and YouTube as Steve Jones, Jenson Button and Naomi Schiff presented coverage.

READ MORE – Williams kickstarts 2025 F1 campaign with FW47 launch

Q+As with Vowles and the drivers were followed by footage of Sainz taking the FW47 out of the garage for the first time to carry out a short installation run around the Silverstone circuit.

Review images from Friday’s launch below.

The post Gallery: Williams launches 2025 F1 campaign with FW47 reveal appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Williams Team Principal James Vowles sees “a world of difference” between the FW47 and its 2024 Formula 1 predecessor.

In 2024, Williams arrived with an overweight car after shifting design concepts and undergoing a drastic overhaul of its production processes which meant it rushed at the 11th hour to bring its car to pre-season testing.

Several months were spent getting the FW46 back to the weight limit before performance upgrades could be made, with the one true performance package coming at Round 15, the Dutch Grand Prix.

However, while speaking to select media including Motorsport Week at Williams’ 2025 season launch of the FW47 at Silverstone, Vowels revealed a lot of progress has been made with the new car.

“So, first of all, weight, the car will be on the weight limit,” he said. 

“Second of all, on time, as I said, we demonstrated to the world that we can build a car to the correct standard and make it leave the garage within one minute, so that’s two very different changes from where we were last year,” Vowels added, reflecting on the team’s live broadcast of Carlos Sainz’s initial installation laps of Silverstone on Friday.

Moreover, Vowels revealed the extent to which Williams made sure the FW47 was ready for its launch.

“That car was built last night at 4am,” he said.

“All the components came together, and we sent that car out just a few hours after that.

“That’s leading edge that most organisations wouldn’t let you into their world to show, but it’s a demonstration of where we come from and that we mean business and where we’re going to.

Speaking further of the progress made from 2024’s FW46 to the new FW47, Vowels said: “The quality of the fit, the quality of the build, the quality of the product is a huge step upwards, and the packaging is another huge step upwards, and we haven’t even got into aerodynamics and suspension and performance yet. 

“Every area I look at in the car is just a world of difference for me from where we were before,” he added. 

“We’re not finished on our journey, and I’m not here standing on our soapbox saying that we’re benchmark, but we’re on the right pathway to getting back there.”

Vowels ‘confident’ in Williams’ progress

Vowles has made no secret that his vision at Williams is long-term, making changes at the foundations to guarantee future success as well as getting a jump start on the new regulations in 2026.

It’s a daunting task reviving an F1 sleeping giant, but Vowles is confident in the progress that is being made.

“[At] the organisation we’ve been spending the last few years, and carrying on in 2025, just digging down to foundations and making a lot of changes,” he said. 

“Just putting some stats around it, we’ve grown from about 700 to over 1,050, and we still have more hires incoming.

“We have some excellent names that have joined us that are by my side now that we didn’t have before. 

“We have, I think, class-leading drivers that are leaders that are able to help and support me in this journey. 

“That will always give you confidence because you don’t feel as though you are a single point of failure anymore, but rather you have an organisation and a structure around you that has the depth necessary to perform on a world stage.”

Vowels is adamant that this will yield results in the years to come, but he wasn’t ruling out a positive step in 2025 earlier.

Speaking during Williams’ live broadcast on Friday morning, he said “The main thing is this: You’re going to see us progress forward.

“But what I’ve always said is we’ve put our focus into ‘26, ‘27 and ‘28. We’re developing elements that come online as a result of that. We have this year huge

infrastructure changes that come online.

“To do that, it’ll take a little bit more time. But that’s the investment we’re doing. But as I said, watch our pathway. It should be a good one this year.”

READ MORE – Williams kickstarts 2025 F1 campaign with FW47 launch

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Williams boss James Vowles has revealed the team is set to have “huge infrastructure changes come online” in 2025 as part of its plan to return to the sharp end in Formula 1.

The Grove-based squad has been undergoing a seismic rebuild since Vowles departed his previous role at Mercedes to begin heading the operation back in 2023.

Vowles has enacted an expansive hiring spree since then, which owner Dorilton Capital is augmenting with mass investment in renovating the team’s outdated premises. 

Williams is endeavouring to put down the groundwork that will enable a turnaround in the team’s prospects over the period spanning the next ruleset beginning in 2025.

Speaking as Williams unveiled its 2025 car, the FW47, at Silverstone, Vowles divulged that there will be sizeable developments on that front coming over the next 12 months.

Asked to provide a timeline on when Williams might be able to capture victories again, Vowles said: “The main thing is this: You’re going to see us progress forward.

“But what I’ve always said is we’ve put our focus into ‘26, ‘27 and ‘28. We’re developing elements that come online as a result of that. We have this year huge
infrastructure changes that come online.

“We were 700 people, now we’re over 1,050 today and we’re not finished yet. There’s a lot more in the pipeline. That’s all happening in the background. And what I want to make sure that we’re doing is not taking just the short term, little bit of gain at the cost of long term. We’re here to make sure we’re back to winning championships.

“To do that, it’ll take a little bit more time. But that’s the investment we’re doing. But as I said, watch our pathway. It should be a good one this year.”

Williams F1 conducts launch with ‘biggest’ partnership in team history

Williams conducted a shakedown with the FW47 in a special camo design scheme which comprised prominent Atlassian branding, the team’s newest title partner.

Vowles reiterated that the deal was the “biggest” that Williams has ever boasted and even touted that it could count among the greatest in global sport along with F1.

“This is by far nothing, anything close to it, the biggest partnership we’ve ever had,” he explained. “It’s probably one of the biggest full stop in the sport or in sports.

“But more importantly, it’s a partnership of two organisations that have very close synergies on how we act and how we behave. Everything is about collaboration and teamwork. It’s about how you pull individuals together and point the right way.

“It’s about being a challenger to other brands and other systems and other dynamics. And for the first conversations we had with Atlassian, it was very clear that how we want to work with each other is how we work internally at the same time. So, there was just a jelling from the outset.

“But it’s huge for us. I think what it demonstrates, we have two of the best drivers. We have some of the best individuals as a part of us. We have individuals that know the journey we’re on. They’re all over the car. They’re a part of it. But they’re partners. They’re not sponsors. They’re partners that want to be a part of what we’re doing.

“And for me, the really big thing is those individuals are part of our journey, believe in our journey, trust in me and trust in what we’re doing. So, it’s huge.”

READ MORE – Williams kickstarts 2025 F1 campaign with FW47 launch

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