James Vowles, Williams’ Team Principal, insists his team and their 2023 Formula 1 car the FW45, have more potential than their solitary point and tenth place in the Constructors’ Championship suggest.
James Vowles joined Williams ahead of the 2023 F1 season, and realistically, is just getting up to speed in his new role after previously heading the strategy department at Mercedes.
Williams are still struggling in 2023, with only one point scored courtesy of Alex Albon’s tenth-place finish at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, the season opener, and while the Thai driver was in decent form in Melbourne as he qualified eighth, but crashed out from sixth during the race, thus ending any hopes of Williams taking any points home.
However, Vowles, following his first three races with Williams, insists the team has much more potential than the results from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Australia reflect, insisting the situation at the Grove-based outfit is “encouraging”.
Baku should suit Williams’ FW45
Speaking to Williams’ Official Website; Vowles said: “We’re three rounds through this 23-race season and encouraging, I think, is the primary word that comes to mind.
“We’ve been there or thereabouts and [with] the ability to fight for points at every single one of those rounds so far, and that will continue as we go forward [to] the next few races. We have Baku coming up, and again, I think [it’s] a track that should suit the capability of our car.
“Whilst we sit here 10th in the championship with just a point to our name, it’s not a fair reflection of the work that’s gone into this car so far this year, and the performance that the car can certainly have track on track,” he insisted.
“From here onwards, really, once we go into Azerbaijan, it’s just going to be this rollercoaster of race after race,” the Briton added.
“We just need to make sure we learn everything from the previous races, reset, and go on and do the best we can at the next [race weekend],” Vowles concluded.