Williams F1: Vowles is frustrated because (…)”/>
Williams F1 seems to have a fairly competitive car but the points are still struggling for the Grove team.
With only one point in three races, team principal James Vowles admits it’s frustrating because he believes the FW46 has the potential to do better.
“We have the ability to score points every weekend. We have to think about the fact that the battle in the middle of the pack is incredibly tight.”
“In the case of Mexico, there were sort of four or five teams, we were all about 30, 40 milliseconds away from each other. You have to do everything right. The frustration is that we have the pace of the car, but we have not always been up to the task of different mechanisms.”
“So in the case of Mexico, it was really a racing incident. There’s nothing we can do about it. At the start of the race, three drivers didn’t fit into two places. We had a second incident in FP1. And It all sets you back over the course of the weekend. But even with all that, Alex still managed to put this car just in ninth place and based on Franco’s race pace, we had the potential to score. good points.”
“And it’s the same thing in Austin. It’s the story of a brilliant drive by Franco, a brilliant overtake by Franco on Fernando and a good comeback. But again, the accident at start of the race, because we were just bunched up and we were all fighting for the same meter, knocked Alex out of the race. So we haven’t maximized anything over the last two weekends, and that’s frustrating. “
“Having a fast car is more difficult and we have a good base to work from. And again, everything seems to be going well here but it can’t go wrong.”
So a change in luck is what Williams needs most?
“That’s where I’m going to have a little bit of trouble myself, because I don’t believe in good luck or bad luck. I really don’t. I think you create that through structure, through process, by just delivering the car to be in the right place on the track at a certain time But I have a hard time accepting what happened in Mexico because of that, but I think it’s really our job to. … We have a pretty fast car, we just have to make sure we execute as well as we can and let the points come to us.”
The battle with Alpine F1 for 8th place
Williams is at the center of the closest battle in the World Championship, with three points between Williams and Alpine. Who does he think has the fastest F1 car at the moment?
“Alpine has done some impressive things… Pierre has been really good in qualifying in the last few events. But in the race we have generally managed to get ahead of them every time. So I think on what I consider to be the important measure , the race pace, we are good, we are ahead of them but it is not far.
Franco Colapinto continues to make great progress from one race to the next… an essential element to beat Alpine F1?
“Without a doubt and there’s still a lot to come from him and that’s to be expected. It would be easy to forget, when you look at the performances in Mexico, in Austin, that he’s only been with us for a few races in Formula 1, but that’s the case and as you know with all great drivers, you continue to build over time. You don’t finish your training in four or five races. lots to do.”
How does he feel when he sees such fervor for a young pilot? Especially here in São Paulo with a lot of Argentinians?
“Pride is the first emotion I feel. I’m really proud of Franco. I mean, we obviously worked together for a little while, not as long as I would with most young drivers, but for a period of reasonable time. And I’ve seen him grow tremendously over the last couple of years and for me it’s just a reward for an individual, a young man who’s doing absolutely incredible performances and seeing his fans out there is. exceptional and I think Argentina has gone through a lot of suffering and it’s good for this country. What’s incredible is to see an entire country respond to someone iconic who is doing something. great in sport. So I would say pride.”
