Vowles is not one of those who takes it lightly when things don’t go as planned, which is why the Williams team principal was clear when explaining how the team is going to use the five-week break without races caused by the cancellation of the Middle Eastern Grands Prix.
The start of the season for the British team has been complicated. They’ve only managed to score two points thanks to Carlos Sainz’s ninth place in China, and the car just isn’t finding its way. Vowles admitted they didn’t start where they wanted to and that this break from competition comes at a good time to pause and review everything they can change.
The most urgent issue on the table is the weight of the FW48, a problem that, in today’s Formula 1, comes at a very high cost because every extra kilo costs tenths of a second per lap, and in such a tight championship, that ends up being a death sentence. Vowles was honest when he said it’s no secret that they are above the regulated weight, and that the upgrades they’re going to introduce during this period are aimed precisely at smartly reducing the car’s mass.
The idea is that some of those upgrades will arrive in Miami, the next race after the break, and others later when the team can finish polishing them. But the work isn’t limited to just making the car lighter. Vowles explained that after three races, there’s never enough time to calmly sit down and analyze every detail of the data, and this break gives them exactly that opportunity to understand what they did right and what they should have done differently.
The drivers are going to return to the factory in England, and the simulator is going to be running practically every day. They’re also going to take advantage of the time to practice pit stops and fine-tune every operational detail that could make a difference when action resumes in May. The Williams team principal was clear when he said it’s not about inventing anything new, but about putting into every available hour what will actually pay off.
The team had already had a complicated start before the season when the FW48’s setup was delayed and they missed the shakedown in Barcelona in January. They managed to recover in time for the Bahrain tests, but the ripple effects of those issues are still being felt. Now with this unexpected breather, Williams wants to turn the page and get out of the slump before the season slips away from them.
Vowles knows that time doesn’t come back and that every race that goes by without scoring points leaves you further behind. That’s why he insists these five weeks are a unique opportunity to reset and come back strong. If they manage to reduce the car’s weight and fine tune the setup, Williams can start looking ahead with different eyes. If not, the comeback is going to be an uphill battle.