Williams Team Principal Not Focused On Competing For Seventh Place In Championship

Wednesday, 15 November 2023 at 17:00

Williams F1 team principal James Vowles explained that the team's priorities are focused on getting back to the top of the grid.

Williams F1 team has a long history that goes back to 1977. The team has been in Formula One for 47 seasons, throughout which the team managed to win nine Constructors' and seven Drivers' Championships.

However, the team has not been as competitive in recent years and has been driving at the back of the grid for the past six seasons.

James Vowles joined the team at the beginning of the 2023 season to become the new team principal with the goal of turning things around.

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Williams improved in 2023 and is currently standing in seventh position, but that is still far off from where the team principal envisions the team.

With two races to go in the season, AlphaTauri started catching Williams and closed the gap to seven points. On the other hand, Vowles clarified that the team's goals are bigger than trying to beat AlphaTauri in 2023. He told the media, according to lastwordonsports.com:

“"Our journey is not about whether we come 7th or 8th in 2023. It is about how we can get back to the top with the team. You can’t throw everything into one pot and hope it’s successful. We want to take a step forward in 2024, but we also want to take a step forward in 2025 and 2026."”

The team principal explained it is not worth spending precious and limited resources of the team on trying to defend the seventh position.

“"That will take time, and will mean a transition. I’d rather invest in everything in that at, the expense of the upgrades this year."”

Nevertheless. the last two tracks of the season seem to be better suited for low-downforce cars, and that is where Williams usually performed the best this season.

While Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant will do their best to hold the team in seventh place in the Constructors' Championship, we cannot expect their team to bring any more upgrades this year.