James Vowles: Williams team principal signs new long-term deal as F1 team bid for front of grid | F1 News
James Vowles has signed a new long -term contract to stay as director of the Williams team.
Since he joined Mercedes 2023, where he directed the race strategy with several winning effects, the 45 -year -old Vowles have supervised what Williams describes as a “top at the bottom” of the Grove team.
Williams is currently fifth in the manufacturers’ championship of this year after scoring 55 points after only 10 races – already their best return in a season since 2017.
“I am delighted to sign a new contract with Atlassian Williams Racing, who felt at home from the moment I crossed the door,” said Vowles.
“This emblematic team has already given me incredible memories and we are all united in our ambition to rely on our inheritance and to win the world championships again.
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Vowles, director of the Williams team, says that he “welcomes” the pressure and control that Carlos Sainz joining the team brought
“In the past two years, we have focused on fixing the foundations and now have a platform to go for glory in the coming years.”
Vowles played a decisive role in the signing of Carlos Sainz, with Williams given the competition from the other rivals of the midfield for the signing of the Spaniard after his exit from Ferrari, and twinned the four time winner of the race in an impressive partnership with Alex Albon.
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Carlos Sainz led her Williams around the new piece of Madrid, which will host the Spanish Grand Prix of the 2026 season
Matthew Savage, the team president and the owners Dorirton Capital, said he was delighted that Vowles “hired his future to complete the mission we are together”.
“He brought experience, energy and strategic leadership to restore Williams to the first stage of the podium,” added Savage.
“We are not there yet, but you can feel the momentum that we build in Grove and we are enthusiastic by what awaits us.”
Can Williams come back to the front in the new era of F1?
The legendary Williams team – which won a race for the last time in 2012 and said the last of their 16 world titles in 1997 – had slipped at the bottom of the 10 F1 teams in the years preceding the arrival of Vowles, but immediately ended seventh of its first year in charge.
And although they returned to ninth place in 2024 after having implemented changes in their work practices in Grove the previous winter, they took an impressive start for this term – score points in all races except two so far to give them a total already more than the three previous seasons combined.
This form in 2025 came despite the team openly recognizing that it is already fully concentrating on the development of cars for 2026, when the rules of the chassis and the F1 engine are considerably revised.
Williams will continue to be propelled by Mercedes in the new era of the F1, the German manufacturer being strongly tilted to open the way in engine development.
The next step for the Formula 1 2025 season is a return to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is live on Sky Sports F1 from June 27 to 29. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time.
