James Vowles: We have to do everything at once

Williams chief James Vowles spoke about the work on the 2024 car and the tasks facing the team during pre-season testing.

Question: FW46 is the first machine developed under your leadership. What emotions did you experience when you saw it in action for the first time on a real track?

James Vowles: First of all, proud, because this is the result of the work of the past twelve months. Not everyone understands how much time it takes to build such a machine. It consists of approximately 20,000 different components, developed by our specialists at our Grove base. We didn’t produce all of these parts ourselves, but in the end it all came together in two weeks.

The FW46 is the result of the efforts of almost 1,000 people, and in creating this car we tried to correct the shortcomings inherent in last year’s chassis. What we have seen so far on the simulator looks quite positive, but during the tests the car will only pass its first real test.

Q: What about Williams’ continued partnership with Mercedes, including the use of the team’s rear suspension?

James Vowles: Williams has a long-standing business relationship with Mercedes, which we continue to develop, and we have a long-term contract to supply their engines for 2026 and beyond. But even before that, we decided to strengthen this partnership, so we relied on using their rear suspension.

Of course Williams knows how to develop suspension, and last year our car had a rear suspension of its own design. But I want to give the team the opportunity to breathe more freely and work on other components of the car, and buying the rear suspension from Mercedes makes this possible.

Q: What tasks does the team solve during pre-season testing?

James Vowles: The tests last only three days – this means that each driver will spend only a day and a half behind the wheel, and this is provided that everything works without malfunctions, like clockwork. Task number one is to test the capabilities of the machine, both in terms of speed and reliability. It is also necessary to identify the chassis weaknesses in order to eliminate them immediately and achieve results in the coming weeks.

It is equally important to give the racers the opportunity to adapt to the car and achieve the desired level of speed. The FW46 is a new product in every sense, so it will take time to figure it out, and this time it will be very little, because in just over a week we have a race at the same track. Therefore, first of all, you need to achieve the required mileage, work with different settings and find an effective approach to the tires both in one fast lap and in racing mode. This is a lot for three days, and in short we can say that we should have time to do everything at once.