‘I’m really excited by what we have coming’ – Vowles on signing Sainz, re-shaping his technical team, and his long-term plans for Williams

James Vowles heads into the summer break on the crest of a wave. The Williams Team Principal’s eighth-month chase of Carlos Sainz had a successful outcome, with the Spaniard joining Alex Albon – who in May committed his future to the British team – in a very experienced line-up for 2025.

Vowles knew he’d have a lot to do when he took over at the helm of one of F1’s most famous teams at the start of last season. The contrast between his old team Mercedes – winners of eight successive World Championships in the turbo-hybrid era – was stark. And so a lot of his initial focus was on getting the building blocks in place for a rebuild.

READ MORE: Sainz signs for Williams as Spaniard's F1 future is confirmed

Many of those projects are well under way – including a move away from using Microsoft Excel to manage the car build – and with wheels in motion, one of his other key tasks was securing a strong driver line-up.

Not only would that help drive the team forward, but it serves as motivation for the staff, helps entice commercial partners and makes the team attractive to new recruits.

The priority was nailing down Alex Albon to a new deal. The Thai driver had interest from elsewhere, including a potential seat at Red Bull in 2026, but Vowles convinced him to stay.

“Alex had a good opportunity, including in a race-winning car – and he’s here,” says Vowles when we speak on the terrace of the Williams paddock hospitality unit. “And that tells you he buys into the journey we are on, he understands the journey we are on, and for Williams, that was a massive nod of confidence in what we’re doing and where we’re going.”

WATCH: ‘I believe in this journey’ – Albon discusses multi-year contract extension with Williams Team Principal James Vowles

Attention then turned to snapping up Sainz, who had serious attention from Alpine and Sauber/Audi – while the Spaniard hoped he could get his foot in at Mercedes or Red Bull to continue with race-winning machinery. It was a heck of a fight, which included daily messaging between the pair and countless meetings in hotel rooms around the world.

“He was the first to point out to us that the opposition is incredible,” adds Vowles. “We have one of the biggest OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] in the world [Audi], one his father has won with. You can’t easily turn it down. You have a team that has won a race more recently than we have. We can’t ignore that. But what he saw with us is not where we are today but where we’re going.”

To snare two drivers with 25 podiums, including three wins, between them shows how far Williams have come. The days of taking drivers with commercial backing or accepting they were low on the list of drivers’ wish-lists have gone.

“Williams was previously in a position where whatever is left, let’s take it or let’s take an income for it,” says Vowles regarding signing drivers. “The world has changed, that’s not how you can be competitive [in F1] anymore. That’s understood.

READ MORE > ANALYSIS: How Williams won out over Sauber and Alpine to secure Sainz – and what it means for the rest of the driver market

“As a result of that, what I’m really happy about is that we have had serious conversations with world-class drivers who want to be here – not that have to be here. That’s a complete world of difference. You can’t rebuild [the team] without that. You need that strength in order to be competing on the world stage.”

It's not just world-class drivers who have been attracted to Williams. Since Vowles joined, the team has grown from a headcount of around 720 to about 1,000. In June, they unveiled a bolstered technical structure that featured 26 new recruits from rival F1 teams – including former Alpine Technical Director Matt Harman.

“Nearly everything will come to people and culture,” adds Vowles. “Our facilities aren’t at the standard they need to be – but we’ll work on that in the background and ultimately what will happen is people will drive that – ‘this is what I need to be successful and take accountability to all of that at the same time’.”

It’s perhaps hard to see the progress Williams have made from the outside. On paper, the team is ninth in the constructors’ championship with four points – seven fewer than they had before the summer break last year. But current form is of little interest to Vowles – he’s got his eye on the bigger picture.

READ MORE: Former Alpine tech chief Matt Harman heads bumper list of 26 Williams hires as team bolster technical structure

“When I started, we focused on today,” he says. “We’re now focused on ’24, ‘25, ‘26. And by the way, there’s a ‘27 project, too, that we have kicked off. We have really good individuals looking at the future – they are not looking after today anymore.

“It’s why when people ask me, ‘Are you happy or unhappy with ’24?’ I don’t care. I hate to say it – but it doesn’t mean anything for me. I love scoring points in Monaco – but I’m really excited by what we have coming up in ‘25, ‘26 and ‘27 as that’s where we’re investing our time and resources. We have to.

“There’s too much to change and undo to not be in a situation where we’re focused on that today. I’m excited by the future. Are we where I hoped we would be in '24? No.

“I was hoping we would demonstrate to the world that we’re not stepping backwards and doing some steps forwards – but I’m okay with it because I can see the foundation of what we have done is good enough.”

READ MORE: Late nights, secret meetings and colossal contracts – James Vowles on how he signed Sainz

Vowles is looking at 2026 – when sweeping new aerodynamic and power unit rules will be introduced – as a moment to reset.

To be clear, that’s not when he expects Williams to be fighting towards the front, but rather where he expects the team to be in a baseline position of the big teams where they have the processes and databases in place to build a racing car to the highest spec. And then they can build rapidly from there.

“I’m going to sound very boring but everything comes down to data,” he says. “When I joined, we didn’t know how long it would take to design or build a front wing. We didn’t know where it was in a system. That will work for one front wing but it won’t work when you’re trying to create 20,000 bits in one go.

“Where do we have to be by ‘26? We must have data wrapped around everything. That means you won’t go over capacity anymore. It might mean we can’t be as big and bold as we want to be, but we’ll build the car to right the spec, standard, the right quality and the right cost.

READ MORE: 'I really believe in the project' – Sainz opens up on his decision to sign with Williams

“We’ll start there and then build out resources around that, including facilities, to add performance on top. That’s where I know we can get to in 2026. Beyond there, facilities, new simulators – all those bits will come online. They are being ordered in the background.

“We’re spending money in the background and they will appear in the next two or three years. Then we have to use them correctly. You can’t run before you’re walking and we’re not walking yet.”

Owners Dorilton believe in Vowles’ vision, which means they are providing the resources for the small, medium and large projects while also remaining patient – a trait that hasn’t always been prevalent in Formula 1 across the years.

But it’s not just a case of spending their own money. The team are pushing hard to increase their portfolio of sponsors in what is an increasingly competitive marketplace.

They are making progress, such as adding Japanese manufacturer Komatsu to their roster this year in a partnership that is one of their biggest ever in terms of financial benefit. Are they closer to getting themselves a title sponsor?

READ MORE: Williams explain how ‘demanding’ and ‘daunting’ Sainz will help ‘shake us up’ as a team

“Short answer, yes,” said Vowles. “Across Monaco and Miami, we had something close to four or five serious title [sponsor] chats. These aren’t potential prospects, these are a step or two beyond there where you’re actually getting into more of the nitty-gritty. That’s not one but several – four or five. I would hope by the start of next year, that’s all [sorted].”

There’s a real feelgood factor emitting through Williams right now as Vowles leads a revolution. There is still a long way to go – but so far, so good. And Vowles is absolutely loving it.

“I get up every day being incredibly happy I’m part of this project,” says Vowles. “There’s different days – sometimes I wake up and think 'there’s so much to do!' But what I enjoy is that we’re making tangible, real differences and you can see it having an impact almost within hours of when you’ve made the decision.

“That’s the enjoyable part, without question. It is a lot of work in a short space of time to get this to a successful place. But there’s some real reasons why people should be happy here.”

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