James Vowles blasted as ‘overrated’ team boss after ‘clear’ Williams ‘deterioration’

Former F1 driver Marc Surer credited the 2023 improvement from Williams to former team boss Jost Capito, claiming James Vowles is “overrated” and has overseen a “deterioration” of the team.

A stalwart of Team Brackley, Vowles took the plunge by leaving his Mercedes chief strategist role to become a Formula 1 team principal for the first time at Williams, taking over the iconic team ahead of the 2023 campaign, a season which brought about a marked improvement as Williams collected 28 points and P7 in the Constructors’ Championship.

Williams team boss James Vowles blasted as ‘overrated’

F1 2024 has been more of a struggle though, with Williams taking just four points from the first 14 rounds, though Vowles has been preaching his vision for Williams’ future, as the team look to focus on the 2026 regulatory reset to come, with next season set to be dedicated entirely to work on the 2026 car.

Carlos Sainz – who was on the lookout for a new F1 home with Lewis Hamilton to replace him at Ferrari – has signed up to the Williams vision under Vowles, but Surer it is safe to say has not bought into it.

Reflecting on Sainz’s decision to join Williams, Surer told Formel1.de: “Why should they suddenly get so much better now? They have got worse this year, you mustn’t forget that!

“I’ve often said that James Vowles is simply overrated. Jost Capito built a car with his people. James Vowles came to Williams, took the car and they finished in the points.

“It looked really good, and all the praise [went] to James Vowles – but not to the man who built the car. Jost Capito was gone. And now that he is building his own car this year, the car is too heavy and too slow, and the updates are too slow.

“I think they have clearly deteriorated at Williams.”

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Surer did offer some hope for Williams in this gloomy analysis, claiming “maybe they’ll learn from that now and things will be a bit better next year”, however, with the focus on the 2026 car, he believes scoring more points will be the reality for Williams, not a surge closer to the front of the grid.

“We must not forget: You can’t change too much for next year because you have to build the new car then,” Surer continued. “From 1 January, they can start designing the new car, and everyone will do that.

“That means that things will be much better at Williams next year? I would doubt that. Points yes, but I don’t think they’ll be up there at the front.”

Williams has not yet put all their eggs in the F1 2026 basket, with Vowles having confirmed that updates are coming after the F1 2024 break which should put Williams back in the hunt for points.

“We have updates coming after the summer break,” Vowles told media including PlanetF1.com. “I hope in Zandvoort and then I hope again in Baku, or the race after Baku which I think is Singapore.

“In the world of Formula 1, they’re big steps. They’re substantive numbers that should add up to us being back in a position of fighting for points.

“And it’s achieved through a number of things. It’s aerodynamic updates. You’re going to see a suspension update. And you’re going to see weight coming off the car. So it’s fundamentally three core routes whereby we’re doing this.”

And once Williams welcome Sainz into the team from next season, he will find Alex Albon – scorer of all four of Williams’ points so far in F1 2024 – on the other side of the garage.

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