Vowles: “It is a dream to be where we are.”
After Albon's seventh place at Monza, James Vowles praised his driver's performance and recognized that Williams' results in 2023 exceeded expectations.
With Alexander Albon at the helm, Williams is having a more than satisfactory season so far. Reflecting on this start to the 2023 season and on the performance of their driver at Monza last weekend, team principal James Vowles even admitted that it exceeded expectations. « Yes, without a doubt. I think it’s a dream to be where we are today. »
Now, the goal of this historic team is to maintain its unexpected seventh place in the championship, especially since its lead over Haas (-10) and Alfa Romeo (-11) is slim and James Vowles is aware of that. « We are not fooling ourselves, it will only take one race to undo all the work done. »
Albon, better at Monza than in Montreal
For the moment, this challenge rests on the shoulders of Thai driver Alexander Albon, who has been resurging at Williams since 2022 after a year outside of Formula 1. It is him who has scored the 21 points for his team this season, notably with two seventh-place finishes in Canada and last Sunday in Italy. James Vowles put these two results into perspective after Monza, stating that his driver’s performance at the temple of speed was even more impressive than the one achieved in Montreal.
« I think in Montreal, there is actually only one overtaking point and if you exit well at that spot and do what it takes, you can stop it », explains the former Mercedes driver, pointing out Albon’s excellent defense against Lando Norris’ McLaren. « In Monza, there are three or four areas where you can easily lose your position. In fact, we saw Alex lose his position, but when he lost it, he positioned himself directly to regain it. He therefore controlled very well what he was doing in that race, and the result was the reward of a seventh place », concludes Vowles, happily.
