James Vowles had to make a decision with serious consequences for a team director this year: replacing a driver during the season.
Logan Sargeant was indeed disembarked, to be replaced by Franco Colapinto – but he had at least been warned several times by his team principal.
He could no longer tolerate an accident and the crash at Zandvoort, in FP3, was the last straw and cost the American his seat.
The director of Williams F1, for the BBC, explained this strong choice: “First and foremost, I think rookies are judged harshly in our sport. They are easily criticized. My role, as with each member of the team, is to support them so that they can perform at their best. I will be the last to bring them down. I will only make a decision when it absolutely has to be done. »
“Once we have delivered a car that I think is of a sufficient standard in F1, then we have to make sure we make other changes. And in this case, it was Logan. »
“Logan had an opportunity with all the developments, with clear instructions. Both pilots had these instructions. But when it became very clear to me that we weren’t going to meet our goals this year, that’s when I agreed to change. »
The decision to promote Franco Colapinto, aged only 21, was heavily criticized: wasn’t he going to do a “Sargeant bis” and also crash the Williams F1?
But since then, the Argentinian has proven his detractors wrong: and James Vowles is obviously delighted.
“There’s a reason we put it in the car,” assures Vowles. “This is based on tens of thousands of kilometers in a simulator. It was a decision made much earlier to put him in the car [lors des essais à] Silverstone, and because, to put it bluntly, he stood out. »
“And his attitude. When you talk to him in the car, he talks like you and I talk now. He has no pressure on his shoulders. »
The problem is that Williams F1 cannot in any way promise a seat next year to Franco Colapinto: since Carlos Sainz has already been hired to team up with Alexander Albon!
Would James Vowles therefore accept that the Williams F1 driver moves to Sauber/Audi in 2025? If at least a contract is offered to him…
“What I can say is that if he doesn’t get a wheel, he will stay very close to us, drive our two-year-old car, and continue to stay sharp. We will have the best reserve driver on the grid while we prepare him for the future. »
The best line-up: James Vowles explains
Next year, Williams F1 will, according to comments made recently “the best duo on the grid”with Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon: but how can James Vowles justify such comments, when Ferrari will field, for example, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton?
“I’ll put it in the context of… what do we need here? I need drivers, two of them, who will be decisive and strong within the team to find performance. Not for themselves; not to fight against each other, but to move the team forward as a whole. »
“That means no politics. What you do in the car is what you do in the car, but you work together as one unit. And I think you’ll find that this lack of politics doesn’t exist in many other teams. »
“So a lot of times people just focus on performance or number of championships. But I think it’s much broader than that when you’re in a team that needs internal leadership without conflict to move forward. »
