Alex Albon has praised Williams boss James Vowles for transforming the Formula 1 team’s culture and for lifting a lingering “doom and gloom”.

The 46-year-old joined the Grove-based squad ahead of the 2023 season, with the team amid perhaps the lowest ebb of its recent history.

Vowles has steadied the ship, and with Albon leading the line in its driver rosters, Williams has shown signs of slow but sure progress.

And 2025 has most certainly been its headiest season in a long while, currently lying in fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

With Albon and Carlos Sainz managing to earn top 10 finishes in all but four of the 14 rounds, it currently has 70 points, more than in the last three seasons combined.

Albon is in no doubt that Vowles’ presence has ensured a complete change in mentality at the team from his first season there in 2021.

“The biggest thing is the culture of the team,” the Anglo-Thai driver told RacingNews365.

“You walk into Grove, it looks the same, but you go inside and it feels different.

“So, when I think about the biggest difference, it’s purely when I remember my first time at Williams.

“Going to the factory, no one was very confident, people were talking badly about themselves, which is never a good sign.

“Possibly a bit stuck in their old ways, and just a bit doom and gloom, really.”

Albon celebrates the ‘freedom’ and lack of ego at Williams

Albon explained that Vowles’ methodical approach to running the team has enabled and encouraged a feeling of “openness” within the ranks at Grove.

“So you get this feeling, he talks about this a lot, of breaking everything down and seeing how it builds back up,” he added.

“And so there’s a freedom and a kind of an openness to everything that we go about our racing, there’s no ego involved.

“And the feedback and the work that we do as drivers really gets taken on. And there’s just this energy to be better.

“And so I think that culture definitely wasn’t there when I first joined. And now it’s great because you have, I won’t call it a young team, but it’s been rejuvenated in terms of it’s just, it’s energy, it’s a really exciting place to be.”

READ MORE – Williams reveals the precise moment development fully switched to 2026 F1 car

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Williams has drawn a clear line under its 2025 campaign, with boss James Vowles revealing the precise moment development focus shifted entirely to Formula 1’s next regulation cycle.

The British outfit has continued its steady rise this season, holding the coveted fifth spot in the midfield battle at the summer break.

Alex Albon was instrumental in that charge, delivering a blistering start with 40 points from the opening seven rounds. Momentum stalled, however, with a dip in form from Monaco onwards, compounded by a string of cooling issues that hampered the team through Austria and Canada.

However, the team eventually overcame reliability issues and bounced back in style in the cooler conditions of Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps – another 15 points to its tally.

A disappointing weekend in Hungary, finishing in 14th and 15th, concluded the first part of the season for Williams. Yet there is no panic amongst the team to bring further upgrades to the FW47, as Vowles revealed development focus shifted to 2026 way before the season even began.

“Everything is switched off – it’s already done, it’s decided,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “And that was done in agreement with the shareholders.

“I really enjoy the fact [that] we’re fifth this year. I think it’s a fantastic element for ourselves, for our partners, for anyone that’s associated with us.

“But the goal of this team is to win world championships, and you’re simply not going to do that by continuing fighting for a position or two in a constructors’ championship. So that decision was taken in January.

“That’s it. We’re not doing anything more and won’t do anything more. And if that results in us being sixth in the championship or seventh, so be it.”

Vowles defines the day Williams turned to F1’s future

While short-term results remain valuable, Vowles has made it clear that Williams’ true priority lies further ahead. The team’s focus has already shifted away from the FW47 and onto the all-new era of regulations.

The British chief even defined the moment of transition to the exact date: “January 2nd, and the FW48 was in the wind tunnel for nearly every single hour that we could. Simple as that. It’s not that we didn’t do any work on the 47. There’s a little bit of work. But you get the idea.”

Looking further ahead, attention inevitably turns to 2026 and the balance of performance between chassis and power unit.

With many in the paddock fearing that engine performance alone could dictate the next championship fight, Vowles remains confident that there will still be significant gains to be made elsewhere.

“I don’t think we’re going to have the gaps we had in 2014 on power units to be completely clear,” he added.

“I don’t think it’s going to be anywhere near that amount – I think power units, up until probably the last three years, have probably dominated most championships, would be a second argument I bring to your attention.

“But in answering it, what you’re saying is, could the chassis be up to half a second difference? Yes, is the answer.

“That’s what we’re seeing at the moment. There’s still lots of goodness that you can consume in that area. Where it falls out, I don’t know yet. We’re just trying to do our best to get up there.”

READ MORE – Williams insists Alex Albon ‘a completely different animal’ from Red Bull F1 spell

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Williams boss James Vowles has branded Alex Albon a “completely different animal” compared to his ill-fated stint with Formula 1 rivals Red Bull.

The Anglo-Thai driver was signed by the Grove-based squad for the 2022 season, having spent the previous year out of F1 after his unsuccessful stint with the Austrian giants.

Albon has been a constant presence within the team as it has slowly morphed from back-of-the-grid no-hopers to midfield hopefuls.

It may have been considered a gamble of sorts to hire Albon after his Red Bull sidelining, which saw his F1 career at a crossroads.

But Vowles has seen the progression in the 29-year-old, and said his performances have prompted the team to ensure he is given a car worthy of matching his capabilities.

“I would say first and foremost, Alex, I think I’ve described this fairly aptly, but in 23, he took a major step up and then he’s stepped up every year,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “That’s my impression of him.

“He has stepped up every year, but he’s always been immensely quick.

“Our first job is making sure we provide him a car that’s able to achieve the results, which is what we’ve done, I believe, this year for the first time.

“Second to that, the way I adjudicate Alex is he hasn’t really put a foot wrong.

“I struggle to look at a race where, or a qualifying where, he hasn’t done what’s required of him where has been our influence as a result of that.

“And even when things go wrong, he’s so incredibly mentally strong that he deals with it and comes back the next day and wants more.

“So answering the question, yes, I see an Alex that is absolutely flying at the right level. And we know that Carlos is a benchmark. That’s a fact. And Alex is performing relatively well.”

Williams praises Albon for mental resilience

Vowles acknowledged that his time at Red Bull saw him, like those before and since, fail to match the speed of its outright number one driver, Max Verstappen.

When asked if he miscalculated the amount of progression he has made, Vowles used the Dutchman as a benchmark, saying “if you put him up against Max today, he would be a completely different animal to what was there before.”

“And I think that’s the clear element behind him,” he added. “And the way I’m perhaps adjudicating him isn’t just about how fast he is in the car, because that’s how he always has been, but actually how resilient he is to other things going wrong around you and how strong he is in that circumstance.

“That’s what I meant by he’s delivering every time.

“So I think his peak level, which is probably how he’s due to get himself, has he gone up a lot? Probably not.

“Is the ability to get there every time there? Yes, that’s what I’m seeing.”

READ MORE – The measure Williams has taken to help drivers prepare for brand-new 2026 F1 cars

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Williams boss James Vowles believes that next year’s new Formula 1 regulations will not see large performance gaps between teams, as seen in 2014.

2026 will welcome the introduction of a brand new set of regulations in what will be the biggest shake-up of rules since the beginning of the V6 hybrid era 11 years ago.

An increased reliance on electric power, the removal of DRS and the reduction of ground effect are just some of the changes that will feature on the new cars.

Such was the magnitude of the new regulations in 2014, that huge differences between the successful and failed interpretations of them were on display.

Vowles, who was a key proponent of Mercedes’ success in that particular period, has said that dominance similar to what the German marque enjoyed is unlikely to be repeated.

“I don’t think we’re going to have the gaps we had in 2014 on power units to be completely clear,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “I don’t think it’s going to be anywhere near that amount.

“I think power units, up until probably the last three years, have probably dominated most championships would be a second argument I bring to your attention.

“But in answering it, what you’re saying is could the chassis be up to half a second difference? Yes, is the answer. That’s what we’re seeing at the moment.

“There’s still lots of goodness that you can consume in that area. Where it falls out, I don’t know yet. We’re just trying to do our best to get up there.”

The FIA’s single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis corroborated Vowles’ take, adding that he is somewhat unhappy with the lack of simplicity in the final regulations.

“I don’t think that we are going to have a situation where a single manufacturer has such a huge advantage as was the case in 2014,” he told Autosport.

“The engines are still not as simple as we would have liked. We would have liked to go further, but we had a lot of resistance against simplifying the regulations more.

“So there are things that we would have liked to be even simpler, but they are still simpler than the current generation of engines.

“They don’t have the MGU-H [heat energy recovery system], and there are a few things that have tighter limits, so we don’t think the gaps will be as big as in 2014.”

The solution to eradicate performance gaps in F1 2026

Tombazis explained that the FIA is introducing a concept known as Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities [ADUO].

This will help the newer manufacturers from falling behind the more established from gaining any significant advantage.

“We do have newcomers, and it is always a risk at the start of a new cycle that there is some divergence initially,” Tombazis said.

“Additionally, we have a cost gap for the PU manufacturers now.”

Tombazis explained that ADUO “has been the product of a lot of work,” adding: “It was already there from day one of the regulations, but in the last few months more detail has been put into it to define exactly how that is going to operate.”

“Essentially every five, six races there will be an average performance measured for each PU manufacturer,” Tombazis continued. “Those who are below a certain level, and depending on how much below they are, will get that benefit accumulating over the year.

“That benefit would translate into three things: one is additional development money, some more dyno hours and the possibility to make a new homologation of the engine.

“So people who are behind will have the opportunity to speed up and catch up.”

PU manufacturers ‘extremely collaborative’ on ADUO

Tombazis explained that ADUO will have little similarity to the Balance of Performance regulations, as seen in the World Endurance Championship.

“I want to stress that I completely refute any comment about that being a Balance of Performance or anything like that, because first of all, the regulations are exactly the same for everyone,” he said.

“It’s not like we are giving them more cubic capacity, more fuel or whatever.

“Secondly, if there was no cost cap, they would throw a lot of money at it.

“When Honda were behind in 2016, 2017, for a certain period they had to spend a lot more money to catch up.

“With a cost cap the risk is that you would never be able to do that, and that you would be behind eternally.

“You would just be humiliated for a whole regulation cycle, and clearly we don’t want that.

“We don’t think that would be fair, and I have to say that PU manufacturers have been extremely collaborative on this topic.”

Tombazis also revealed there will be an additional initiative in place to ensure teams that might suffer reliability issues will also be afforded leeway.

“There is an additional initiative which addresses the situation where a PU manufacturer has huge reliability issues to start with,” he highlighted.

“Imagine somebody who blows up an engine each race weekend and each engine costs a lot of money.

“They suddenly find that they are eating their cost cap with blown engines. They have to reduce the development to stay below the cost cap, and you can imagine that would be an awful situation.

“So we’ve got some initiatives, which are going through the same phase of discussion now, and will hopefully be approved quite soon, whereby once you use more than a certain number of engines, you start having a certain cost cap relief.

“Your engines, once you exceed that number, cost very little from a cost cap point of view.

“Not in terms of real money, of course, they still cost the same unfortunately, but it means that we protect them from a situation where somebody is in an awful position and has no way to react under the cost cap. That would be really unfortunate.”

READ MORE – Williams boss predicts ‘big driver market move’ for 2027 F1 season

The post Why F1 2026 will not see a repeat of 2014 performance gaps appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Williams boss James Vowles has predicted that the next “big driver market move” will materialise by the end of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Red Bull’s struggles had threatened to unsettle the driver market as rumours ensued that Max Verstappen was angling for a possible move to Mercedes for 2026.

But at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Dutchman provided a temporary respite to the Milton Keynes-based squad as he reiterated his intention to race for the team.

Looking forward into the latest era of the sport, Vowles is of the opinion that Verstappen or any other big-name driver could completely rejig the grid for 2027.

“I think the end of 2026 will be another big driver market move,” he told Sky Sports F1. “A lot of contracts come up at that stage.”

The likes of Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly all have contracts ending by 2026, including Vowles’ own driver line-up consisting of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.

But he is confident that he can convince the duo to extend their alliance with the Grove-based squad, notwithstanding any potential reshuffles happening across the grid.

“Simple answer is this: I have two drivers who believe in what we’re doing in terms of the longevity of this team, the investment in this team and the direction to go back towards winning championships,” he asserted.

Why Vowles is sure he can retain Albon and Sainz

The pairing of Sainz and Albon has paid dividends for Vowles, who sees his team sit fifth in the Constructors’ standings, leading the midfield battle.

Naturally, moving into the 2026 regulations reset, the Briton would want continuity, especially after divulging his plans to build a sustainable and long-term project at Williams – something he began by signing Sainz, a proven Grand Prix winner, last year.

“My job in all of this is making sure they’re fairly rewarded for that journey and they want to be a part of that journey as well at the same time,” continued Vowles.

“That’s what I can provide and offer them.”

Albon’s stock in the paddock has been rising steadily since he signed with the Grove-based team in 2022.

He is widely regarded as a consistent, dependable, and fast driver, qualities which many team bosses would be willing to pay top dollar for.

But Vowles says Williams can offer its drivers something that not many other teams would be willing to.

“Now if someone wants to offer them twice that money, that’s there choice in doing so,” he added.

“But they are key leaders that are having direct impact on what this car looks like tomorrow and what it looks like in a year’s time, something not provided to a lot of drivers up and down the grid, almost treated as a separate asset, a separate entity that comes in.

“That’s not what we provide here. The second part of it is making sure we have conversations early enough in 2026 that this is where I want us to be for the future.”

READ MORE – Oscar Piastri insists 2026 F1 regulations require fine-tuning to produce ‘the best show’

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Williams boss James Vowles has called for refinement on the forthcoming 2026 Formula 1 cars, stating drivers are currently experiencing a “very difficult” workload.

With 2026 fast approaching, teams have begun to increase their attention on perfecting their respective interpretations of the new regulations.

This is now dovetailed with drivers getting a first sampling of how the cars could feel via simulator runs, giving them an opportunity to give their take on it so far.

A big change is the increased use of electricity, with the V6 hybrids altered to ensure a 50-50 divide between that and internal combustion.

This has led to a range of views aired, the first and perhaps most notable coming from Charles Leclerc, who stated he was “not a fan”.

Williams driver Alex Albon gave his own take, saying there are ways that skilled drivers can “abuse the system”.

Vowles was on hand to deliver a typically measured response to this, saying that the early sim runs are an “indication” and promised Leclerc that “it gets better”.

Despite this, Vowles has acknowledged the difficulty faced by drivers, revealing the challenge Williams’ simulator drivers had to tackle in the initial runs.

“The first time any of our simulator drivers drove the 2026 regulations it was difficult, because it is a complete change on certain aspects of how you drive,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“Then the second time it became more normal – still complaints. And by the fourth time, there really wasn’t much in terms of discussion over it. It just became the norm.”

Drivers are beginning to understand 2026 cars but still require a ‘fix’

Vowles advised those talking to drivers to exercise caution when asking about the 2026 cars, as the likelihood is that they are yet to grasp the necessary skills to extract maximum performance fully.

“So, what I ask everyone to do is be careful,” he continued. “Ask the driver how many times they’ve driven the simulator as you adjudicate their answer. I guarantee you it’s once.

“It’s probably the first initial response. And those that have driven it four or five are like: ‘I understand it now.’

Despite this, Vowles believes the cars are asking a lot of the drivers, and urged for the remaining half a year before they are driven for real to be used to ease the burden.

“Is it refined enough?” he asked. “We’ve got a lot more work to do to refine it, and we’ve got to make it easier on the driver, because I think the workload is actually very, very difficult for the driver at the moment.

“But we have another six months to run before we’re there, so I’m confident we can fix that.”

One positive Vowles did vocalise was allaying any possible concerns about a possible lack of on-track action.

‘Manual override mode’ replaces DRS from next year, which requires a different level of ability from drivers when it comes to using it.

But Vowles believes that it won’t hamper drivers when it comes to attempting overtakes.

“I think you’re going to get much bigger differences in straight-line speed on certain straights because of how much you can play with the energy and various modes,” he said.

“And so, I think at some point the overtaking could actually be accentuated, not hindered as a result of it.

“The racing concept actually means that if you have a faster car, I think there are more tools at your disposal as a driver to be able to use than this year, even including DRS in there.”

READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton delivers positive verdict on ‘fascinating’ 2026 F1 regulation changes

The post Williams boss warns current 2026 F1 rules will give drivers ‘very difficult’ workload appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Williams boss James Vowles admitted he is impressed by how McLaren has managed to dominate in Formula 1, despite the team’s aerodynamic testing restrictions.

Having won the Constructors’ title in 2024, McLaren has thrashed the competition with 11 victories in 14 races to open up a bordering on unassailable 299-point lead.

The Woking-based squad has consolidated the advantage it has harboured since the season began with recent updates, taking 1-2 finishes in the previous four races.

That has transpired even though McLaren’s status as reigning champions entitles the team to less wind tunnel time than its rivals, in line with the sport’s sliding scale.

Vowles, who is aiming to guide Williams back to the sharp end, has expressed his admiration towards how McLaren has dealt with such limitations to retain the edge.

Asked whether Williams’ four-place climb to fifth this season has caused the team to alter its plans, Vowles told media including Motorsport Week: “No. It doesn’t do that so much.

“Even before that kicked in, our Head of Aero, Adam Kenyon, was really good at getting the team completely understanding what the impact of it would be.

“And what the main impact is, is you do have, of course, reduced wind tunnel time, but you can be more efficient in the experiments that you’re doing.

“So actually, it’s an efficiency push that took place. And it focuses you.

“I think for transparency, I don’t think it’s too bad from where we were to fifth.

“I think it gets very difficult when you’re championship leading, which is why McLaren are very impressive.”

How McLaren has built commanding advantage

An instrumental aspect behind McLaren’s remarkable rise has been how the side has managed to avoid the development setbacks that have thwarted the opposition.

McLaren boss Andrea Stella is adamant that pattern has not been a coincidence, though, and is down to the collective attention on maximising the team’s correlation.

“This trend that we have been able to establish, whereby developments – being them from a mechanical point of view, but above all aerodynamic – have been successful, is the result of many factors,” Stella explained.

“There’s not much in Formula 1 [a] fundamental for success that is a magic bullet. It’s really the result of working on the fundamentals.

“The fundamentals don’t only involve the capacity to generate ideas, to create the next geometry for a floor or a front wing, but they also involve understanding the methodologies you use for this development and understanding when these methodologies will be not only effective in being innovative but also in giving you the confidence that what you have achieved in development in the wind tunnel or CFD will actually transfer into something that works trackside.

“This is part of generating the know-how as a team, which in itself is a very simple statement— ‘Let’s generate the know-how to have the best correlation’ – but in reality, is possibly one of the most complicated battlegrounds for any Formula 1 team. We have invested a lot from this point of view.

“I have to praise the quality of the people because even if we talk methodologies, they are always led by people.

“I have been very lucky that I could lean on very competent leaders and a very talented team.”

READ MORE – Why McLaren envisages renewed Ferrari F1 challenge across remaining 2025 races

The post Where McLaren has massively ‘impressed’ Williams in F1 2025 appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Williams has taken significant strides forward in the 2025 Formula 1 season, thanks to a strategic focus on key areas of development.

After a challenging 2024 season, the British outfit has started 2025 with steady progress, showing clear signs of improvement on track.

Alex Albon, who has been in impressive form this season, has racked up an impressive 54 points so far. His performances have firmly established him as the best of the rest and helped propel Williams into contention for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

While Williams hasn’t fully turned the corner yet, the team’s progress is clear and purposeful as it continues to push to regain its former glory.

According to Team Principal James Vowles, one of the biggest factors behind the progress made so far has been reducing the car’s weight and ensuring a reliable supply of spare parts.

“So I don’t think we’ve turned around – I think we’re gently moving the right way,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“But answering your question more seriously, the main thing is this. Last year, the car was very heavy. We didn’t have the right amount of spare parts.

“We effectively threw a lot of technology through in terms of ideas, but could not deliver on the back end of it.

“One of the biggest fixes we’ve been putting in place for the last 24 months is making sure we can deliver from what we call concept or cradle to grave, but from concept to track as quickly as possible at the right cost level.

“And that’s one of the biggest changes. And you can see that with this year’s car. The car was on time. We had plenty of spares around us. We can develop multiple updates across the year.

“We’ve done multiple front wings, multiple packages. That’s a change if you look back at Williams’ history; that’s been one of the key changes. So on the weight limit, right product at the right time.”

The hidden metrics driving Williams’ progress

Building on the importance of having the right parts at the right time, Vowles highlighted the second crucial factor behind Williams’ turnaround: improving internal processes and key performance indicators (KPIs) that might not be obvious to outsiders but are vital for the team’s efficiency.

“Number two is KPIs that aren’t as exciting to the outside world because only I can see them,” he explained.

“But what I’m looking at is fundamentally how much we can push through our organisation and our factory in any one given week.

“So, whether that’s in production or design, effectively how many releases can we do in a week? How many of those can we push through production in a week? How much do we push externally?

“And we’re in a much better place for a cost cap world. That’s what we’ve been really trying to fix. Because it now gives me more money to then make sure we build the organisation and fix the organisation.

“We don’t use Excel spreadsheets anymore. And I joked about it two years ago. I wasn’t joking at the time. But we’re now in a situation of using modern-day ERP, MPLM tools in order to design, build the car. That’s a big change.

“And there’s more changes this week that have helped us again for our future.

Uniting Williams’ growing team for success

Finally, the Williams boss indicated how communication was the crucial final piece in the team’s resurgence.

Emphasising the need for unity in an expanded team, he explained how breaking down silos is key to modern F1 success.

“The next one is that we’re communicating,” he addressed. “I know this sounds really strange.

“But almost the organisation built up from 200 people to 700 people, 800 people. But everyone stayed in what they knew and how to do.

“And that’s not how you become successful in modern-day Formula 1. You need all 1,000 people working together. So you’re one team, not seven entities.”

With these changes firmly in place, Williams looks set to continue its steady climb back towards the front of the grid.

READ MORE – Why Williams hasn’t felt impact of recent F1 aerodynamic testing time reduction

The post Williams outlines three factors behind resurgence in F1 2025 appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Williams boss James Vowles has explained how the team’s strong package this year has staved off a drop in performance amid Formula 1‘s aerodynamic testing reset.

The Grove-based squad has enjoyed a strong 2025 so far, sitting fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, 18 points ahead of nearest midfield challenger Aston Martin.

Its FW47 has been by far its fastest car for a number of years, seeing points finishes in all but four of the 14 rounds of the championship so far.

A fast and also benign car, the FW47, the team’s progress has only been significantly blunted by DNFs, largely caused by engine cooling issues.

The only punishment for its strong first half of the campaign is that it now has its aero testing time reduced, as per F1’s sliding scale rule.

It will now have an aero testing limit of 90 per cent, a 20 per cent drop from the December 2024-June ’25 period, from when it finished ninth in the Constructors’ standings last year.

When asked if the team has had to change its plans in this regard due to the decrease in testing time, Vowles explained this was not the case.

“No. It doesn’t do that so much,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“Even before that kicked in, our Head of Aero, Adam Kenyon, was really good at getting the team completely understanding what the impact of it would be.

“And what the main impact is you do have, of course, reduced wind tunnel time, but you can be more efficient in the experiments that you’re doing.

“So actually, it’s an efficiency push that took place. And it focuses you. I think for transparency, I don’t think it’s too bad from where we were to fifth.

“I think it gets very difficult when you’re championship leading, which is why McLaren are very impressive.”

Vowles unsurprised about strength of Williams so far this year

Vowles also spoke of how the team has executed races well when in positions to challenge for points.

“For sure, I reflect on our season this year and we’ve had elements where we’ve delivered and when we’ve delivered, it’s delivered well as a result of a number of iteration or cars in front of us,” he said.

“The car going into the year, if you ask me, I would say it’s going to be a very close battle between P5 all the way down to probably P8, which I think is the reflection of it.

“And I think if you look at our performance up until Imola and Miami, you would say, yep, the car is… we’re fifth, fourth, because we’re picking up good results.

“We’re not making any mistakes with it. But the field is very compact.”

Whilst not surprised about the overall performance of the FW47, Vowles revealed he was to some extent about its performance at circuits on which it was not expected to perform well.

“Then in Imola and Miami, I think it took the world a little bit by surprise as to how far we could push this car and develop this car,” he continued.

“Then the development race kicked in, and others added performance, adding performance, adding performance.

“Ferrari have done a brilliant job in that regard. And it was our update in Spa that brought us back into a position where we’re, again, able to get the car into the top ten.

“That’s my assessment of it. Am I surprised we’re fifth? I think any team could have had fortunate results along the way through.

“We did a good job when the car was quick and were able to pick up the points that we could.

“That said, I could already point you towards 18 points we didn’t pick up at that time. So I’m not surprised. I think it’s a long season left to go.

“I was surprised more at Imola and Miami that we were as quick as we were. That’s probably what I would put into it.”

READ MORE – Williams boss suggests F1 teams not consulted on ‘flawed’ Monaco GP rule return

The post Why Williams hasn’t felt impact of recent F1 aerodynamic testing time reduction appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Williams boss James Vowles has called on the FIA to explain why the Monaco two-stop rule has been reintroduced, arguing it encourages Formula 1 teams to exploit loopholes and “gain the system” rather than race fairly for points.

He made the comments after the British outfit followed other teams in exploiting the rule during this year’s Monaco Grand Prix – a strategy he later admitted left him feeling “uncomfortable”.

To inject more excitement into the 2025 edition of the historic race, the FIA reintroduced a mandatory two-stop rule, a strategic twist designed to spice up the racing.

In practice, however, the rule backfired. Rather than promoting on-track action, it led to teams such as Racing Bulls, Williams, and Mercedes engaging in tactical games.

Racing Bulls were first to exploit the format, using Liam Lawson to slow the pack behind him and create a pit window for team-mate Isack Hadjar, allowing the Frenchman to complete a mandatory stop without losing track position.

In response, and frustrated by being on the receiving end of such tactics, Williams followed suit in a bid to secure valuable points. Mercedes then did the same to salvage its race after a difficult qualifying.

However, the FIA, despite widespread criticism, adopted the rule once again when it published its 2026 sporting regulations on 31 July 2025.

Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Vowles admitted he had no idea why the rule had been reintroduced.

“Good question – it wasn’t actually discussed in the F1 Commission,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

When pressed on whether the FIA had taken the decision independently, Vowles stopped short of assigning blame, but he made clear he intended to find answers.

“That wasn’t what I said, either” he added. “I hope it comes up in a conversation coming up.

“I have a meeting this afternoon with Nicholas [Tombazis, FIA single seater director] where I want to discuss exactly that as a topic – of where did this get discussed and [then] I’ll be sure.”

Vowles reflects on Monaco’s controversial two-stop rule

The mandatory two-stop rule at Monaco drew a negative reaction from drivers and team bosses alike, questioning its impact on the spectacle.

Many felt the strategy-heavy approach led to less genuine racing and more gamesmanship – George Russell slamming the “flawed” format that failed to deliver after the race.

Asked if anything should be done to stop every team doing what Williams did at Monaco next year, Vowles responded: “For clarity, we weren’t the first to do it.

“I had to do it in reaction to the field. I didn’t like it. It’s the most uncomfortable I’ve felt.

“I like going out there and fighting for points on merit rather than having to gain the system in order to achieve it.

“I still maintain, however, by the time it got to us, and I waited as long as we could in the race until there’s just one point remaining, that at that point you have got to think of the championship and take a point.

“I think the arguments that are being made are, was it a better show? Irrespective of that. I can’t answer that question.

“I think that’s for the fans to answer. My personal opinion is I don’t like the lack of clean racing that occurs as a result of it.”

READ MORE – Why Williams harbours ‘shared frustration’ with Carlos Sainz over 2025 F1 setbacks

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