Vowles committed to the task of restoring Williams

In what was somewhat of an unexpected announcement the Williams Racing team made it official that Mercedes’ engineer and strategist James Vowles would be taking on the role of Team Principal. Vowles has had a long term relationship with the Mercedes team so his move to Williams raised a whole lot of questions some of which were answered in a post announcement interview.

As for how the agreement to take on the Team Principal role was achieved he spoke of how the discussions had been going on for some time.

Vowles commented: “I’ve been chatting to Williams over the last month or so. Very clearly, we all have a relationship inside this sport, so it wasn’t that it was a complete cold call. From my perspective, the conversation just started picking up initially because it’s an incredible opportunity and I feel like I can add to it.

“And really from both sides, both Williams and myself, we concluded that the fit is very very good after a number of meetings with the board. We actually found a way of working, a way of thinking, a way of approaching things, culture, people, systems, was incredibly aligned.

"It was at that point that were I brought Toto into the conversation to let him know what my will and desire was.”

Reaching agreement with Williams was one thing but then he had to notify his current boss Toto Wolff of his decision and this saw Wolff be very positive to such a move.

Vowles added: “I think from my perspective Toto, in fairness, wasn’t really made aware of it until late on, so just a few weeks ago, really into the new year. Toto’s response was the best I could have hoped for. He has been incredibly good in terms of accommodating this change.

“Mercedes know it’s obviously a loss, but in a way it’s a gain because Williams fundamentally and for myself it ends up being a big step, and I think that is why you are seeing this collaborative nature.”

Next is the challenge that joining a team like Williams Racing is given their lack of significant success over the past few years and more importantly since Dorilton took ownership. But Vowles spoke of how he feels that he is very prepared for the task of taking Williams forward. He has been preparing for this career move for quite some time while he has been at Mercedes.

Vowles said: “Fortunately, I’m not seeing it... it is a leap, it is a jump, but I don’t think it’s a massive leap. I think this journey towards Team Principal has been one that has been in my head for many years, and Toto and Mercedes have been incredibly kind in order to provide me a pathway to get there. As Toto described a number of responsibilities fell my way in the last few years.

“However, it’s the same if I asked any of you to change what you’re doing and move on to a different organisation, even perhaps if you’re doing the same job. You have to reform your relationships, you have to build the team around you that you want, that you are with, and you have to reform those social groups that are now disappearing. Disappearing after 20 years. The best analogy I can use so far is almost like a divorce. It’s hard. That’s a lot of people that are incredibly close to me, that I’ve grown up with.”

He added: “But I’m going into an arena that has people that are just as motivated, just as committed, and just as hungry for success. It’s a different starting point but the end goal is going to be hopefully no different. To answer your question, is it difficult? I don’t see it that way.

“Perhaps I’m getting carried away with the excitement and the want and will to start this, and get into this, but it’s not trepidation. I’m waking up every morning, I don’t mind saying, at five AM and just scribbling down thoughts, notes, directions. That is the level of motivation that is just going to keep me going for years and years. I’m confident of it.”

As for the future challenge of taking a team that in large part has struggled to achieve the results all had hoped for seeing them finish last in the last two years of the championship it will significant. For Vowles he is yet to start work at the team but he can still assess what the culture of the team must be what with the continued limited success which has an impact on all those working for the team.

Vowles spoke of this: “It's hard to answer what's wrong simply because as I speak to you all here, I haven’t set foot inside. My contact has been fairly limited, for purposeful reasons, I’m still in the transition point.

“What will definitely be wrong is when you are hurting, and when you have been punished, and you’ve been pushed down as an organisation, because you are suffering, that doesn’t get better year on year, unless you get a change to what’s going on.

“A change to the culture, a change to the methods, and systems. I suspect a lot of it was that, if we go back a few years, we didn’t have the strength that Dorilton have brought. Dorilton really want and will invest the correct amount to make this a prominent team. And I don’t think that was fair to say that was the case just a few years ago, and the impact of them will take a while to properly kick in.”

As for coming from a team like Mercedes that has had success for a lengthy period of time to go to one that hasn't is certainly a massive challenge for Vowles but he has an appreciation of what needs to change beyond just his appointment.

Vowles said: “I am one change but clearly one individual won’t make it. What is required is a re-strengthening of the technical team, but also allowing those internally that are incredibly good to shine and prosper, and I suspect the environment that they’ve had around isn’t one that would be have been conducive to that for a period of time.

“What I’m doing different is that I am fortunate enough to have known failure on levels that unfortunately many of you have publicly seen. Even prior to Mercedes, there were times that we were lavishing in a very poor position. We didn’t score a point for twelve races.”

He added: “The real gain that you get out of this is that you have to instil a culture that allows everyone to realise that you have to be empowered, you have to grow, you have to move forward as a unit together, and it has to be one collaborative motion.

"And I strongly suspect that they’ve put themselves in a situation where that collaboration isn’t quite as good as it could be or should be, just simply because it has been quite a few years of pain that has cemented it.”

As for the concern spoken by many of him been brought into Williams to take the team into being an extension of Mercedes Vowles spoke of his view that Williams will remain independent and that he is now committed to the Williams team above all other considerations.

Vowles added: “Williams is an entirely independent organisation, and furthermore, it's one that my success is subject and dependent on me doing a good job there, and that has to be independent of Mercedes.”

“It doesn’t mean that Mercedes and ourselves won’t have collaboration in some form or another, there was collaboration before I joined, but I have to do what is best for Williams from here onwards.

He continued: “The second, which is now fundamentally, that you put a crisp Williams shirt on, that is where your loyalty is and that is where my success and the team success will come from. There is no mini-Mercedes or B-team or any of that notion. This is about me standing on my own two legs and measuring success with an organisation around me.”

So for Vowles his arrival of Williams Racing certainly has been welcome by many involved in not only Williams but also Formula One. His task is probably the most difficult that you could imagine that of turning around the fortunes of a struggling Formula One team. How well he performs in achieving this task only time will tell. But it does sound that he has the understanding of what makes a good F1 team, as in Mercedes, and bring that to Williams.