Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Coming off a strong performance at Silverstone, what can we make of Williams?
Things are never dull in Formula 1.
This was supposed to be a quiet week off, following a back-to-back in Austria and Britain, and ahead of another back-to-back in Hungary and the Netherlands. But a thunderbolt from the clouds came down on Monday, with the shocking news that Daniel Ricciardo was coming back to the grid.
After just ten races, AlphaTauri and Red Bull had seen enough from Nyck de Vries. The rookie was out, and Ricciardo was in, on loan to AlphaTauri starting with the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Still, with F1 on a bye week following the British Grand Prix it is time to take stock of just where each of the ten teams are ahead of Budapest. Working through the field from the bottom of the Constructors’ standings to the top, what is the biggest question facing each team right now?
As we continue working through the Constructors’ standings, what is the next team on the docket?
Williams.
Was Silverstone a fluke, or a sign of things to come?
Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
The British Grand Prix was by far the best weekend of the 2023 season for Williams.
Not only did Alex Albon finish in the points, finishing eighth at Silverstone two races after finishing seventh at the Canadian Grand Prix, rookie Logan Sargeant finished 11th. While it was not good enough for the rookie to earn his first points of his debut F1 campaign, it was by far his best finish of the season.
Will this last?
There are some signs that it could. Williams debuted some upgrades to the FW45 at the Canadian Grand Prix for Albon’s car, and his P7 followed shortly thereafter. While that result might have also been due to the impressive defending Albon showed during the race, the upgrades certainly helped. “It’s been a very strong weekend and I have to thank the team first and foremost,” Albon said after the Grand Prix.
“We had the upgrade on the car, and I think it shows that we made a good step and the circuit suited us. The work that has gone on at the factory to get this upgrade ready has been monumental and everyone has been working so hard.”
More upgrades followed, including upgrades to Sargeant’s car for the Austrian Grand Prix, and a new front wing for Albon at Silverstone.
While Albon’s success might be expected, the improvement from Sargeant is hard to ignore. The rookie driver headed to Austria off the most difficult stretch of his inaugural campaign, as he finished dead last in his home race in Miami, followed by a P18 in Monaco, a P20 in Barcelona, and a retirement in Canada.
But at Austria, with some upgrades to his FW45, Sargeant placed 13th. Then came his P11 in the British Grand Prix, his best result of the season.
“I’m pleased with the last two weekends,” said the rookie following the British Grand Prix. “The progression has been good, and I feel like I’m getting more comfortable.”
“I’m starting to drive the car the way it actually needs to be driven. It’s all coming to me. The team has been great in supporting me, pushing me and trying to help me out as much as they can,” added Sargeant. “We had a great car today, it was the best race I’ve felt all season in terms of car performance as well as pace.
“Logan too showed good race craft and was able to build on his race in Austria to deliver another impressive performance,” added Dave Robson, the team’s Head of Vehicle Performance. “It is frustrating for him to finish 11th, but his first Formula 1 Championship point is getting ever closer.
Williams seems to be moving in the right direction at the moment. Upgrades seem to be clicking for both Albon and Sargeant, and the rookie does look like he will break through with his first F1 points in due time.
Another thing working for the team? The patience we are seeing from new Team Principal James Vowles. In an interview with RaceFans from a few weeks ago, the new boss outlined what he inherited at Williams, his plan for the future, and how he expects to be judged.
“Williams has already had multiple directional changes, but everything that we have gone through so far in terms of what we want to achieve – not this year, but over the next years, which means complete ground-up, dig everything up, break it, structural changes – it’s been open-minded to,” said Vowles
“That’s the important thing. I’d say probably over the recent weeks we’ve started to put in place a good set of management team elements,” added the Williams boss. “There’s more to come. There’s more signings that will be public over the next few months and you’ll start to see from that what the structure I have in my mind will look like. But that’s what’s missing at the moment – it doesn’t quite have the structure required to run it and operate it on a day-to-day basis, and also develop it and move it forward. And that will appear.”
“I think even now, we’re finding – and I will continue to for the next six months – where the real problems are,” Vowles added. “And they’re not where you expect either, particularly. But I think that bit of it’s going fairly well. And adjudicate me or judge me more by what you see in one year with the transformation, rather than today. But I’m fairly happy and comfortable that we’re starting at least to start pushing bits of the system to find out what fails.”
Right now, it seems like Vowles and the team are doing much more than just “pushing bitts of the system.” Rather, it seems like the team is pushing in the absolute right direction, and the results are beginning to follow.
So will that continue, or were these recent results simply a mirage?
