James Vowles sets timeline for consistent Williams F1 points

TL;DR

James Vowles, Williams F1 team principal, expects the team to consistently score points after the summer break in August. Following a challenging start to the 2026 season, recent upgrades have improved their performance.

Key points

James Vowles is the team principal of Williams F1.
Williams aims for consistent points scoring after the summer break.
The team had a rocky start to the 2026 season.
Upgrades were introduced for the Miami Grand Prix.
Williams achieved its first double-points finish in Miami.

Mentioned in this story

James Vowles

Williams F1

Motorsport photo

Williams Formula 1 team principal James Vowles believes that the Grove outfit should be in a position to consistently score points following the summer break in August.

After a rocky start to the 2026 season due to delays on the FW48, Vowles hopes the team will be able to turn things around in the latter half of the year. The five-week break between the Japanese and Miami Grands Prix offered Williams, and all of the other teams, the opportunity to reset and bring upgrades, potentially earlier than they would have originally planned.

Following the introduction of upgrades and a lighter car in Miami, Williams celebrated its first double-points finish of the season with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon finishing ninth and 10th, respectively, in the grand prix.

While it was a decent step forward for the team, Vowles explained in an episode of The Vowles Verdict that it is a "relative game against others as to how much we can bring at the race against them."

When asked when fans could expect Williams to consistently score points, Vowles added: "What I know is the pipeline of work that we have all the way to, and just slightly beyond, the August break, that at the end of all of that should put us in this comfortable position where we're just consistently scoring points every weekend from then onwards.