Williams
Boss James Vowles has mentioned that the Grove team is still disadvantaged due to certain equipment they use for designing and developing their vehicles—one of the factors contributing to his belief that the present FW47 model is challenging to handle.
Vowles’ time leading the team has been characterized by the transformative efforts he spearheaded through investments made out of public view. A notable instance was shifting away from using a centralized Excel spreadsheet for monitoring the vehicle assembly process.
Continued investments in newer tools and equipment have been made; Williams was among those who strongly supported implementing a graduated capital spending cap. This would help ensure that Formula 1’s less well-funded teams could allocate more resources towards aligning their infrastructure with that of the leading teams.
recognizes that Williams doesn’t anticipate the complete effects of the new infrastructure to manifest fully until they start building their 2028 vehicle, even though advancements continue to increase as the squad grows more familiar with the updated internal processes.
Vowles stated, “I believe there are certain features of the car that haven’t yet reached the appropriate standard.”
I believe we aren’t getting the right balance for our drivers, and currently, we’re somewhat constrained by the tools we’re utilizing.
I believe there are certain aspects we can align this year, yet part of it requires us to adopt a distinct approach moving forward.
James Vowles, Williams
Image courtesy of: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Vowles provided an update on the enhancements happening at Williams, encompassing not just infrastructure upgrades but also transforming the team’s culture to foster a more cooperative approach in developing the vehicle.
He mentions that the management systems he has put in place needed a long period of adjustment, especially since pre-packaged solutions do not cater specifically to F1 needs.
However, he believes that adjusting those systems to achieve a specific lap time improvement is motivating the Williams team members to enhance their performance.
“I believe this is what I anticipated as the next step in our development journey, simply by addressing some basic elements,” Vowles added.
Actually, the key here is simply facilitating conversation among individuals along with some basic infrastructure that helps improve efficiency in their workflow too.
I am delighted that this course should keep going forward with some additional positive steps all the way through to 2026.
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Image courtesy of: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
It’s challenging for fans to grasp why we’re making these changes, but our objectives revolve around introducing new infrastructure, technologies, and systems within the company. This includes measuring how long it takes to construct a front wing, assessing the cost of building one, determining what proportion of work is done in-house versus externally, calculating design time, counting test iterations, and tracking the number of wind tunnel hours needed to achieve an additional increment of performance.
All those key performance indicators will lead you to become championship-worthy. The outcomes on the racetrack are merely a result of this process, which is why I’m concentrating on these metrics rather than solely focusing on race results. As was seen in ‘25, and I believe it’ll continue into ‘26, progress will be steady.
This approach is based on data; if you continually modify these parameters, you’ll develop an increasingly quicker vehicle each year and ultimately surpass your rivals.
The cultural shift is incredibly significant since you have to collaborate with an entirely different group of individuals, which can halt organizations in their tracks. This isn’t to say that the magnitude of this transformation was minor; it’s substantial for any organization globally.
But here’s how you can extract the milliseconds from this data. Consider your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): How many milliseconds each week do we generate in terms of aerodynamics, vehicle dynamics, or via simulations?
These are the same factors that push you ahead. The only difference is that instead of aiming for 10 milliseconds each week, your target is now 15 milliseconds to become championship-ready.
Once you have the appropriate data encompassed by the proper tools and effective communication, you can significantly enhance things without becoming overly casual about it to some degree.
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