Outside Line: Lucky to have a job after FW48 failure, James Vowles headlines Williams drivers for Goodwood
F1 OpinionWednesday, 15 April 2026 at 19:29
An email popped into my inbox the other day, trumpeting Williams’ presence at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, with the great Damon Hill, race drivers Jamie Chadwick and Luke Browning, and team principal James Vowles to do the honours of driving.
James Vowles driving a Formula 1 car!
Let's rewind. This year, Williams dropped the ball massively rolling out their 2026 Formula 1 car, late and weight. The FW48 is probably the worst Williams have ever produced at Grove at a time when the new rules offered a great opportunity to seize for smaller teams.
As Haas has done under Ayao Komatsu, this was it. And Alpine now powered by Mercedes are also enjoying a renaissance. But with the same Merc engine, the Williams drivers are nowhere.
Instead, with Mercedes power widely regarded as a benchmark and McLaren operating far further up the grid, Williams have, on results so far, struggled to keep pace. Anchored to the wrong side of the grid and hopeless in race mode.
Yet Vowles, who I have often criticised for being far too visible in front of the camera instead of behind the HQ focusing on execution, continues to position himself prominently. Yes, he comes from a world championship team, but mighty Mercedes was built by Toto Wolff, who sets the benchmark of this era. Vowles departure did not create even a ripple for the team. He was a nobody who got a big break.
Right now amid his big break, it appears Vowles is pushing his own profile prematurely, without having delivered results that justify that level of visibility. It takes a certain arrogance, or at the very least a misreading of the room, to place himself front and centre for a Goodwood appearance while the team is still trying to establish competitiveness.
Too much talking and not enough delivery
Furthermore, I don’t recall any of the great Formula 1 team principals dabbling in this kind of public-facing, attention-seeking, vanity induced extravagance. Colin Chapman, Ken Tyrrell, Ron Dennis, Frank Williams. Even when he could, Frank did not.
And Toto Wolff, while building Mercedes, has largely stayed out of that spotlight in this context. Dabbling with historic cars during closed media events is his style. Zak Brown owns a fleet of iconic race cars, many long before he became TP. He enjoys inviting his mates to have a fling every now and then. He gets a pass.
Christian Horner, who built what Vowles can only aspire to at Red Bull over two decades, only drove one of their Formula 1 cars much later in his tenure. And he had a racing background.
So what is James Vowles at Williams right now? A team principal? A media figure, a spokesperson, an influencer, a show run driver?
Because from the outside, it is not always clear when his primary focus should be fully aligned with delivering a package worthy of the Williams name, and do justice for two extremely good drivers going to waste right now.
In my opinion, there is a growing sense that he is building his own profile while the team still lacks the results to support it. Actions matter more than words.
Paddy Lowe was fired by Williams for far less
There is very little on his résumé at Williams that justifies this self-indulgence. That P5 last year in the Constructors' Championship, in my view, owed more to the drivers than to a clear step forward from the team itself. The current car, delivered under his leadership for Sainz and Albon, raises serious questions about direction and execution.
At this level of the sport, that naturally brings pressure. Traditionality Formula 1 has not tolerated mediocrity for long, let alone such a massive ball drop with their state of readiness for this all-important 2026 F1 season.
Vowles even tried to spin mnissing Barcelona testing into a positive for the team with this audacious line amid his usual word salad: "The reason for making the decision on Barcelona is to protect what we're doing in terms of upgrade strategy across the year." As if it was all part of some master plan. How stupid does he think we are?
Others, like Paddy Lowe, were sent packing under similar scrutiny. History shows that when Lowe took over, Williams had just finished P5 for two seasons in a row. A year later, in 2018, they finished last.
There are parallels being discussed again now. Yet here is Vowles, placing himself prominently alongside Damon Hill for Goodwood, a privilege that, to many, feels premature.
What about true Williams legends in the cockpits of their cars?
Apart from Damon Hill, who thankfully headlines the Williams presence, why not Nigel Mansell? Alain Prost? Keke Rosberg? Jacques Villeneuve? Nelson Piquet? What about Riccardo Patrese? Thierry Boutsen? Juan Pablo Montoya? David Coulthard? And not forgetting Nico Rosberg, Ralf Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Mark Webber etc?
Williams has a treasure of Formula 1 World Champions and legendary drivers still alive so deserving of exposure and honour.
Yet the current Williams F1 team principal, still early in his tenure and under pressure to deliver, is placing himself prominently in that lineup at the expense of true legends. It inevitably raises questions about priorities and optics.
I have never witnessed anything quite like it. While the team is clearly still searching for form, its leader is front and centre in a celebratory setting, driving cars he has no clue how to drive properly, his feedback a nothing-burger, his impressions about as informative as a kid after his first rollercoaster ride. Irrelevant.
All this while proper Goodwood drawcards, true Williams F1 Team racing legends are denied by self-serving vanity. What about humility? What about accountability? What about timing? What about respect for history? How about showing true leadership?
Purposefully low-key to media, Sir Frank Williams built this once greatest Formula 1 on substance, not noise. Those who knew him know he said little, but when he spoke you listened and, of course, famously he did not suffer fools gladly. I imagine he would be appaulled by the manner in which Vowles is leading the team.
Latest News
Loading
