'We are on this journey to make sure we keep stepping forward' - James reflects on a difficult Hungarian GP
Speaking on The Vowles Verdict, presented by Kraken, our Team Principal gave an honest assessment of Budapest and looked ahead to the summer break
Published
02 AUG 2026
Est. reading time
4 min
James Vowles has given a frank appraisal of the Hungarian Grand Prix, acknowledging the difficulties of a weekend that the team had predicted would be challenging, while reaffirming the commitment to the long-term project.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Vowles Verdict, presented by Kraken, James addressed the result head-on and outlined what needs to change.
A predictable but still painful weekend
"Budapest was an awfully painful weekend, but I'm afraid it was one that was predictable to us," said James. "We haven't been strong in either Barcelona or Budapest for many, many years. There's some positive news, which is that we are getting closer to understanding that problem, but that doesn't make it any easier for today."
He added that the team has work to do to address the root causes. "There are some inherent characteristics that we have had baked into our cars for many years, and we need to make sure that they are removed and eradicated as soon as possible, which most likely will be into next year."
James explains that it's on us and not on Carlos for the incident with the race leader, providing a clear explanation of what occurred with the systems outage, whilst praising the FIA technology that helps us to go racing safely.
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Looking at our upgrade and the season ahead
Our TP provided insight into the upgrade, saying: "We have a package, but it's not coming until later in the year. And more importantly, it's more about focusing on getting the foundations right for next year."
He was candid about where that leaves the team in the short term: "What I can say is the Baku upgrade will not be enough to put us in a point scoring position regularly, and that's what we need to review and understand what else we can do this season. Mainly for me, it's about understanding what went wrong this winter. We have some pretty nasty characteristics in these cars, what can we fix in this period of time? Because what can't happen is we go into next year still carrying the burden that was 2026."
Focus already turning to 2027
James discussed how the work being done on the 2026 car will have benefits for 2027 and beyond, with focus already switching to next year's cars up and down the grid. He commented: "That's already happening to a certain extent, but what I want to make sure we do is bottom out all of the issues with this year's car."
Our TP also explained how the team is investing resources into factory development this year rather than being able to spend it on the car, due to the constraints of the cost cap.
"We're in a strange position where we got very exposed this winter. We’ve had many, many years where we haven't been able to build up our facilities to the level that needs to be, and what the cost cap does is it constrains you. So, we are dedicating a lot of resources to making sure we are fixing those problems behind the scenes, rather than bringing performance to the car in the current year."
"And clearly this winter showed that we have a long way to go. There's a lot more that we need to address and fix, and this is not the work of moments. It's not the work of a month or two months. It will take time. Our commitment to you is that we will. We are on this journey to make sure that we keep stepping forward."
Recharging over the summer break
Looking ahead to the summer shutdown, James was clear on the value of the break, both for the team's wellbeing and for what comes next.
"It's probably the best rule that we voted on as a sport," he said. "There's one aspect to the summer break that does help you, from when it starts, for two weeks, everyone closes their laptop and that is done."
"That's what the summer shutdown represents. It's the ability to recharge. It's a very hectic and busy schedule, and it's been busy for us all the way since August last year. So, it would be good to go into this break, take time to reflect on the areas that we have to improve on with immediate effect, and where we haven't yet put enough focus into and come back energised, ready for the second half of the year."
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