Williams\u2019 James Vowles has said he\u2019s prepared to finish lower in the championship rather than risk forgoing preparations for the upcoming F1 2026 regulations changes.<\/p>\n
Having spent recent years laying the foundations for a Williams resurgence in 2026, Vowles isn\u2019t being tempted to turn back any resources to this year\u2019s campaign despite the Grove-based squad eying up fifth place in the Constructors\u2019 Championship.<\/p>\n
Williams has \u2018switched off\u2019 development as F1 2026 in full focus<\/p>\n
With 70 points on the board, Williams is 18 points clear of its nearest rival, Aston Martin, as the sport takes a two-week breather for the mandatory summer break.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been an unusual first half of the year for Williams, with the experienced Carlos Sainz having a more difficult start than expected. The Spaniard has scored 16 of the team\u2019s 70 points, with bad luck and misfortune often playing a part in what has been a slow but steady acclimatisation after years of racing for Ferrari.<\/p>\n
The FW47 has proven unusually competitive as a tidy racing car, giving Alex Albon the weaponry he\u2019s needed to score a trio of fifth-place finishes, alongside a bevy of other points-scoring results.<\/p>\n
But, despite being in fifth place \u2013 a position which will add millions in prize money to the team\u2019s coffers over sixth place \u2013 the team\u2019s development cycle for the current car has ended and Vowles has insisted he won\u2019t be tempted into restarting any further development on the car, even if he sees fifth place coming under threat due to competitors keeping their development going longer.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is switched off, it\u2019s already done, it\u2019s decided, and that was done in agreement with the shareholders,\u201d Vowles told media, including PlanetF1.com, immediately prior to the summer shutdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoy the fact we\u2019re fifth this year, I think it\u2019s a fantastic element for ourselves, our partners, for anyone associated with us, but the goal of this team is to win World Championships, and you\u2019re simply not going to do that by continuing to fight for a position or two in a Constructors\u2019 Championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that decision was taken in January, and the pathway we\u2019re on is actually this update we did, the element, it wasn\u2019t even guaranteed we would update. There were a few bits that we did with the tunnel across January, February, and March. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not doing anything more. I won\u2019t do anything more. If that results in us being sixth in the championship, so be it.\u201d<\/p>\n
F1 2026 has long been identified as a primary target for Williams<\/a> to aim for as rejoining as a primary competitor, with Vowles overseeing a long rebuilding and modernisation of a team that had slumped to the back of the field through a lack of resources and capital infrastructure.<\/p>\n Fifth place would be the team\u2019s highest-place finish since 2017, then under the ownership of the Williams family.<\/p>\n Vowles confirmed the FW47 of 2025 has seen minimal development time in the wind tunnel, with only a raft of upgrades introduced at Spa differentiating the car significantly since the pre-season, with the 2026 FW48 being in for \u201cnearly every single hour we could\u201d since aero testing restrictions for 2026 lifted at the start of January this year.<\/p>\n But that isn\u2019t necessarily the same approach taken by all the midfield teams. For instance, Haas has already confirmed further upgrades will come for its VF-25 later this season, and Williams risks falling further back if other teams bring more speed to their cars this year.<\/p>\n The British team boss said he doubts Haas will be the only midfield rival to bring performance developments over the remainder of this year, but it\u2019s not something he\u2019s worrying himself about.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019m hearing up and down the grid\u2026 if you put yourself in my shoes, what am I fighting against? I\u2019m reflective of how we perform in any one given year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is my job\u2026 to make sure we perform, which is why I signed off at the investor board level immediately that this is not what we\u2019re doing. We agreed and signed off for that, so I won\u2019t be adjudicated by where we finish in this year\u2019s championship.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll still hurt me, but I won\u2019t be adjudicated by that.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be adjudicated by how we move this team forward year on year, relative to measure. But that isn\u2019t the same up and down the grid.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of other entities where it is about now, and I think that\u2019s one that differentiates us.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Williams in Formula 1<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0How Williams are looking to stay one step ahead with new FW47 updates<\/a><\/p>\n