James Vowles claim P7 in the World Championship will set the ‘foundation’ for the ‘start of their journey’ for Williams in later Formula 1 seasons

With the help of their young talents Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, Williams put forth a mediocre performance in the recently-ended 2023 season. The team finished P7 in the Constructor’s Championship after the Abu Dhabi GP, thus cementing their place above the likes of AlphaTauri and other teams. Seeing a jump in Williams’ rankings from 10th in 2022 to 7th this year, James Vowles has exclaimed that this might be the foundation for their upwards journey in F1.

Despite a tough battle with the other lower Formula One teams and finishing at P7, James Vowles, who transferred to Williams earlier in 2023, is now quite happy. While seventh on the grid is not as impressive a rank as one would want to get, the Briton has claimed this position will do wonders for Williams. He claimed that the finish would prove to be a foundation for the team’s return back to their winning ways. He further talked about the time that the team would lose on wind-tunnel still showed optimism.

Probably the most important thing is that it sets the foundations for the team  – that they have something to build on now, You lose out on wind tunnel time and it’s not the financial element that we are particularly worried about.  

Vowles said, as reported by Autosport.com.

The British Boss further insisted that this was the start of the team’s new journey and added that the team was not going backwards from here. After winning an estimate of $87 Million from the prize pot, Vowles added that it was good to have money in the bank account at all times. He also explained that the team was throwing money rather than being profitable.

But what I wanted them to do was to stand up and go: this is the start of our journey. By the way, we're not going backwards from here. This is a new de facto standard and a spring for us. It always helps having money in the bank account, But I've been very open and public about the fact that we're throwing away, in terms of losses, tens of millions.  

James Vowles talked about his calmness during the races

The 44-year-old exclaimed that he didn’t get nervous during the races despite the close-call races for the drivers. Additionally, Vowles added that his expressions might not be the best at times however, he expressed his pride over the team’s achievement so far in comparison to their past performances.

In addition to the performance, Williams was the team that had stopped developing their cars first on the grid. The Grove based outfit didn’t update their car after the mid-season break and further Vowles commented that the team made the right call due to the increasing performance. Finally, he claimed that the team worked really well to reach the point where they were.

A P7 finish might not be the best option for the once-dominating Williams. However, comparing recent performance, the team has definitely shown improvement. However, the team is yet to confirm their second driver paired up with Alex Albon as Logan Sargeant’s future within the team looks uncertain after the American scored just one point in the entire season.

In case you missed it:

• Lando Norris is all praise for McLaren’s Andrea Stella, claims he ‘couldn’t ask for a better team boss’
• Ferrari gets self-critical after failed F1 2023 campaign, Frederic Vasseur admits ‘we started on the wrong foot’

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