James Vowles makes CANDID admission about Williams' F1 plans

James Vowles, Williams, Bahrain, 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

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Vowles makes CANDID admission about Williams' F1 plans

The former Mercedes man has revealed how his new team will navigate the rest of 2023

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 7 September 2023 16:57

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James Vowles has admitted that it will be hard for Williams to stay ahead of their competitors in the rest of 2023, with no more updates on the horizon.

The Williams team have been rejuvenated in 2023, and have gone from being back markers in the last three or four years to genuinely challenging for high points finishes.

Alex Albon's performances in particular have caught the eye, with the Thai driver scoring all of the team's 21 points, and putting in some supreme qualifying performances.

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He really impressed in the last two races in particular, qualifying fourth and finishing eighth at the Dutch Grand Prix, before qualifying sixth and finishing seventh at the Italian GP, in a car that shouldn't realistically be fast enough to challenge the likes of Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin.

These performances have boosted the team into seventh in the constructors' championship, with Haas, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri all behind the British team. However, Vowles knows how hard it will be to stay ahead of them for the rest of the season.

"Whilst we are seventh in the constructors' championship, the gaps are this close, within a weekend you could go back to eighth or ninth," he told Viaplay at Monza.

"I think from my perspective, it's incredibly important that we score now, we know the AlphaTauri, we know the Alfa Romeo, we know the Haas have upgrades coming throughout the year, we don't anymore."

Focus on 2024 for Williams?

George Russell was the last Williams driver to achieve a podium finish, before his move to Mercedes

These comments suggest that the team may now be focusing on 2024, as they look to take yet another step closer to the teams that are currently ahead of them in performance.

A huge boost for them is that Albon will definitely be there in 2024, to hopefully take his brilliant form into a better car.

There are question marks about the other driver seat, however. Logan Sargeant has struggled in his rookie season, and is yet to rack up his first point in F1.

When you see what his esteemed team-mate is doing, it does increase the pressure on young Sargeant, and the team have not yet decided whether he will be the second Williams driver next season or not.

They can ill afford the mistakes he has made in 2023, particularly if they have a faster car next year that is able to challenge the top five.

As for Albon, he is getting closer and closer to a first podium with the Williams team, and with their impressive straight-line speed that was on show at Monza, he may be hoping that it is just round the corner for him with more fast circuits such as the Las Vegas GP and the Brazilian GP coming up before the season is out.