Williams still “cornered” with current F1 tools

Williams boss James Vowles has said that the Grove squad is still at a disadvantage with some of the tools it uses to design and develop its cars – one of the reasons why he feels the current FW47 is difficult to drive.

Vowles’ tenure at the team has been underpinned by the restorative work he has directed investment in behind closed doors, with one famed example being the migration away from a central Excel spreadsheet used to track the car’s build. 

Further investment into more modern tooling and machinery has continued; Williams was one of the key advocates for a tiered capital expenditure limit to ensure F1’s lower-placed teams could put more finance into bringing their facilities in line with the front runners.

Motorsport.com understands that Williams does not expect the full impact of the new infrastructure to be realised until the build of its 2028 car, although the improvements have continued to escalate as the team becomes acquainted with the new internal systems.

“I would say we have some characteristics in the car that are still not at the right level,” Vowles explained.

“I don’t think we have the balance that we should do for the drivers, and we’re a little bit cornered on some of the tools that we’re using at the moment.

“I think there’s some elements that we can bring in line this year, but I think some of it, however, is actually a different direction that we need to take for the future.”

Vowles offered an update on the improvements taking place at Williams, which involves not only the infrastructural investments but also changing the culture at the team to ensure a more collaborative process in the development of the car.

He says that the management systems that he has implemented have required a lengthy process of adaptation, particularly as any off-the-shelf solutions are not F1 specific.

But, he thinks that adapting those systems to produce a target output measured in lap time is bringing the Williams personnel to improve.

“I think it is where I expected the continuation of the development path to be, just by fixing some fundamental bits,” Vowles added.

“Really, the secret behind this is just getting people to talk together and a little bit of infrastructure that allows you to actually work a little bit more efficiently as well.

“What I’m pleased by is that this direction of travel should continue on with a little bit more plus-plus into 2026.

“It’s hard for fans as well to understand why we’re doing this, but our targets are actually around introduction of infrastructure, technology, systems, KPIs internally, how long it takes to build a front wing, how expensive it is to build a front wing, how much we do internally, externally, how long it takes to design, how many loops we do, how many wind tunnel hours it takes to add X performance.

“Those are all the KPIs that then drive you towards championship material. And the results on track are just an output from it, and that’s why I’m not focused on the results on track because as with ’25 and I think as with ’26, it’ll move forward.

“This is data driven; if you keep changing these variables, you will just build a faster and faster car every year and eventually you outdo your competitors.

“The cultural change is absolutely enormous because you’ve got to work with a very different set of people, and that brings organisations to a standstill. It’s not that I’m saying anything more than that change was big. It’ll be big for any organisation in the world.

“However, here’s how you get the milliseconds out of it. You have KPIs: how many milliseconds per week are we producing both aerodynamically or vehicle dynamics or through simulation?

“Those are the same ones that drive you forward. It’s just instead of targeting 10 milliseconds a week, you’re targeting 15 in order to be championship material.

“Once you’ve got the right data wrapped around it, with the right tools wrapped around it and the right communication, you can effectively turn up the dial without being blase about it to a certain extent.”