Vowles praises team’s determination to improve ahead of break

Published

03 APR 2026

Est. reading time

2 min

Atlassian Williams F1 Team Principal James Vowles has praised the team’s determination to fight back and find a way to move up the grid, following the Japanese Grand Prix.

A tough outing at Suzuka Circuit saw Carlos Sainz hold off Alpine’s Franco Colapinto to secure P15, with Alex Albon crossing the line in P20 after a series of pit stops designed to maximise data gathering opportunities.

Reflecting on the weekend in the latest episode of The Vowles Verdict, presented by Kraken, James discussed a number of topics, including Ollie Bearman’s scary crash, pit strategy for Alex, learnings from the weekend and the push for points.

However, JV’s big focus was the way the whole team has responded to the weekend.

He said: “My one big takeaway is the following. As hard as it is right now, what I've seen both within the team - and that includes the engineers, the mechanics trackside and that includes the team back here in Grove where I am today, and that includes Carlos and Alex - is no one's pulling apart. Everyone is pulling closer together.

“We want to be successful and we appreciate and know that where we are right now is nowhere near where we want to be. There's various reasons for it, but irrespective it is just the fact that we're not on the money and on the pace right now. What is important, though, is how we show ourselves across the next six months to correct for that.”

Our Team Principal added: “I'm seeing everyone asking, ‘What more can I do? Where can I be there?’.

“Carlos is here today in the factory with us working through some of the data, some of the issues, and doing the driver and loop simulator. Alex was online at 2 am - he's in a different country at the moment - to be a part of our engineering meetings, to make sure that we're adding performance where we can.”

You can watch the full episode of The Vowles Verdict, presented by Kraken, above.

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3 APR 2026

Vowles praises team’s determination to improve ahead of break

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