Vowles Applauds Precision Driving in Jeddah

James Vowles hailed the teamwork on display at last weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, where Atlassian Williams Racing added six more championship points to its tally.

A nail-biting final 15 laps saw Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon choreograph a perfectly synchronised DRS train to finish eighth and ninth respectively. The result elevated the team back up to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship and marked Williams’ strongest season start since 2016.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Vowles Verdict, presented by Kraken, our Team Principal said he was proud of the team’s collective effort. “It makes me proud to have a team around me that is just pushing, wanting more, and wanting us to move up,” he said, adding that “the result is simply a reflection of that.”

With intense pressure from Isack Hadjar in the final stint, both Carlos and Alex delivered faultless drives to execute the DRS strategy perfectly. “It needs harmony between the two of them,” James explained, “because synchronising two cars to keep within a few tenths of each other whilst they're travelling around the fastest circuit in the world – that is no mean feat. And yet, they did.”

James was also keen to highlight the wider team dynamic that made the result possible. “What I like is that we showed the world we’re one team working towards one goal,” he said. “We are fortunate to have two top-tier drivers working together as a team, and I think that’s the key message behind all of it – teamwork.”

Following the success in Jeddah, the team now enjoys a one-weekend break before heading to Miami for the next round, which also features the second Sprint event of the season.

Looking ahead, JV remains optimistic. “We’ve had a car that scored points in four out of the first five races, so going to Miami, our thoughts are still the same,” he said. “The package we’ve developed is more agnostic to track characteristics now. That’s not to say it doesn’t have weaknesses, it has a few, but I think the car should be quick in Miami again. Our aim is to go there and walk away with double points, as we did in Jeddah.”