Williams team boss Vowles warns: Qatar could be a repeat of Hungary – with the same weaknesses that won’t be fixed until 2026
Williams team boss James Vowles expects his team to perform as poorly at the Qatar Grand Prix as it did at the recent Formula 1 race in Hungary.
In a team video, Vowles said: “There are a lot of long corners with high g-forces at the Hungaroring. That’s a weakness of our car. We already noticed that in Barcelona.“
But Vowles cannot promise any improvement: ”We are aware of this problem, but it’s not something we are investing in and will fix in 2025. This weakness will therefore also be present in Qatar. That has to be said clearly.”
This could mean another unsuccessful weekend for Williams: The traditional British team had already finished 14th and 15th in Hungary and failed to score any points.
Williams won’t have any solutions until 2026
Team boss Vowles is only promising solutions for 2026. “Then we’ll have things on the car that will fix the problem. Our focus is already on next year and beyond. We don’t want to spend valuable resources now just to improve performance on a few race tracks in 2025.”
Despite its clear focus on the new technical regulations from 2026, Williams has made a good start to the 2025 season. Going into the summer break, the team is fifth in the constructors’ standings with 70 points, 18 points ahead of Aston Martin in sixth place.
Alexander Albon is eighth in the drivers’ standings with 54 points. His new teammate Carlos Sainz is 16th with 16 points.
The Spa update brings Williams back into the points
Vowles says he is “not surprised” by the interim standings in the world championship: “We are fifth because we are achieving good results and not making any mistakes. When the car was fast, we scored points. It’s more likely that the others are surprised at how far we can push this car.”
Although Williams has lost some ground in the development race, “our update at Spa has brought us back into the top 10,” says Vowles. “However, we still have a long season ahead of us.”
