James Vowles could not hide his pride. Even though Williams only brought home a single point from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the team principal showered praise on the entire workforce at the Grove factory. Behind the disappointing result in Baku lay an extraordinary effort that produced a major upgrade package.
The British team arrived at the Baku City Circuit with a substantial update. Not just one or two components, but two new chassis, an extensive weight-saving programme, and a revised aerodynamic set-up. This was a big package rarely seen from a midfield team in the middle of a tight season.
In an Instagram video, Vowles expressed his gratitude. "First and foremost, thank you to everyone who has been working diligently day and night to achieve the update that we brought here this weekend," he said. "It's no mean feat to bring two new chassis, take a large amount of weight out of a package, and an aerodynamic update at the same time, deliver all of that to Baku."
Indeed, the effort was not instant. Vowles admitted discussions about this package began a few months ago. But seeing it come to life on track, he felt proud. "It's really fantastic to see it delivered here this weekend," he added.
In qualifying, the package showed promise. Carlos Sainz made it into Q3, a feat not always easy for Williams this season. However, the race was a different story. Sainz finished 10th to score one point, though at the time of writing he is under investigation for an alleged practice start infringement. Meanwhile, his teammate Alex Albon crashed on lap 31.
Vowles highlighted the inconsistency between qualifying and race pace. "You can see in qualifying, we're able to achieve a good result, but the race was really up and down, and at certain points, with Carlos, for example, we really couldn't find the performance that was there in qualifying," he explained. "I think we have some direction on that already, but well done to Carlos for fighting to the very end, for that point."
Regarding Albon's incident, Vowles explained it was purely a street circuit factor. "With Alex, it's a real shame. He was driving incredibly well. A gust of wind fundamentally meant that he was unable to slow the countdown sufficiently and went into the wall. And that is just a factor of Baku, it's a street circuit, and these sorts of elements get punished quite hard."
Despite scoring only one point, Vowles stressed this was a solid start to the triple-header. "We'll get that car rebuilt for Malaysia, which is taking place next week. Baku was the first of a triple-header. But as I say, really solid start, but we have work to do."
With the hard work already shown, it's not impossible for Williams to maximise this package in the remaining races. One thing is clear: the fighting spirit at the factory never dies, and that is a valuable asset for the challenges ahead.
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