– Williams is one of the biggest disappointments in the first half of the 2026 Formula 1 season. While the traditional team still finished fifth in the championship last year as the “Best of the Rest,” they fell significantly in 2026 and are only ninth in the world championship at the summer break.
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“The extent of our crash surprises me,” admits team principal James Vowles in an interview with Formula1.com and explains: “We are not yet at the level of a champion. I have been saying that for three years, and I say it again today. We are not.”
Nevertheless, many things seemed to be going in the right direction at Williams since Vowles came to Grove as team principal at the beginning of the 2023 season. In the first year under Vowles, the team jumped from tenth and last place in the championship to seventh.
After a small setback in 2024, 2025 saw the aforementioned fifth place and thus the best Williams final result since the 2017 season, when they also finished fifth in the championship. In addition, Carlos Sainz stood on the podium twice last year.
All the greater was the disappointment over the crash in 2026. After Williams repeatedly pointed to a great opportunity through the new regulations, the start of the season with an overweight and otherwise too slow car turned into a debacle.
Still too “outdated” even without Excel spreadsheets
But why has Williams missed its self-imposed goals so clearly so far? “We no longer work with Excel spreadsheets, which is great. But when it comes to our systems, processes, and ways of working, we are still outdated,” explains Vowles.
He admits that he did not expect this circumstance to be such a ball and chain for Williams in 2026. “I have learned, and this is my own fault, that some of these things take a little longer than I would like,” says Vowles.
Ultimately, the switch to new regulations would have exposed Williams’ weaknesses, he explains, emphasizing: “We have made some bold decisions about what we will do with some of our systems that simply did not work.”
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For example, they decided to “withdraw some core systems in the middle of the year,” which according to Vowles is risky but necessary. “We are also trying to develop a completely new chassis in the middle of the year,” he recalls.
“That used to be common practice, but not anymore. That is a damn big challenge,” says Vowles. From the race in Baku, a B-version of the Williams FW48 is to be ready, with which they want to still save the so far botched season.
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Why Vowles is “proud” of Williams
Vowles explains matter-of-factly: “Our task in this matter is to take stock, fix the problem, and move on. It’s that simple. I am confident that, just like last year, you will see us take a step forward.”
“I have no doubt about that,” emphasizes the team principal and reports: “I am proud of how the team [has reacted to the crisis]. There are two ways to react: You can hang your head or hold it high and say, ‘We will get this under control and come back.'”
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“We chose the second option,” says Vowles, who also emphasizes that it is not about making Williams faster again in the short term. “Our path leads us back to the top. This will not be a project that is completed in six months or a year,” he explains.
“Much of what we are currently doing is going in the right direction,” he says, adding: “Even if it does not immediately translate into vehicle performance – with our measures to restructure systems and structures and the focus on some new ways of working […] it will all pay off.”
Williams lays important “foundation for the future”
“I already knew that we would experience ups and downs, but that does not change our ultimate goal,” Vowles makes clear and reports: “We are already working on next year because that is the right thing to do at the moment.”
The upcoming updates for the FW48 are therefore already aimed at 2027. There will be “many changes” in next year’s car, announces Vowles and explains: “There are some elements of this year’s car that we cannot develop to the extent I would like.”
“This year is about identifying and fixing a few really unpleasant driving characteristics of the car to create the right foundation for the future,” says the team principal. Of course, the new parts are also supposed to improve performance this year.
“But the focus is really on getting some of the basics right to secure a strong future,” explains Vowles, who has recently also come under criticism himself. Among others, Ralf Schumacher criticized him for the currently clearly missed targets.
“I believe the patience of the investors is now running out,” says the expert in the podcast Backstage Boxengasse from Sky. If 2027 also turns out to be a failure, some observers assume that the air could become very thin for Vowles.
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