James Vowles: It’s very important for us to stay ahead of Alpine and Audi

James Vowles said one of the key tasks for Williams is to stay ahead of teams like Alpine and Audi/Sauber in the championship, one of which is already a factory, and the second will gain that status in 2026.

We can say that Williams has already achieved tactical success in this confrontation, having acquired a driver like Carlos Sainz, although both mentioned teams had claims on him.

“We will have two drivers who are among the best in the world, and this is very important for us,” said the head of Williams Racing. “I believe this confirms the fact that we are ready to make the necessary investments to reach a new level.

Much of this work is not visible from the outside, but the most visible aspect is that we are investing money where it should be invested: we signed contracts with the best riders we could invite. At the same time, we beat the big factory teams, and I am very proud of that.

I already told Carlos this: he chose us above all the others and made a very important decision for us. We have to admit that Alpine is ahead in points, but last year they were ahead of us. I admit all this, but Carlos is interested in our plans for the next two seasons: how will we develop, what direction will we take?

This year we have again dropped to 9th place in the Constructors’ Championship, but do we really need to be there? No, if the weight of our car did not exceed the established minimum limit, but we created these difficulties for ourselves when we implemented technological reforms.

I want our team to create a car that can handle all tracks well, and we have already built a good foundation for that. As I said, we had to pay a certain price for this in the short term, but in the future we will win back – this is exactly the direction we have chosen.

It is very important for us to get ahead of Alpine and Audi, because both are very powerful companies, and this cannot be underestimated. But Carlos realized that our team was rebuilding, and that was great. Actually, it is impossible to judge from the outside, but I included him in our plans.”