Vowles tipped to be ‘one of the top F1 team principals at a top team’

Vowles led Williams to their strongest campaign since 2017 in his first year in the role of a team principal as the Grove-based outfit finished seventh in the 2023 constructors’ championship, scoring 28 points. 

The former head of strategy at Mercedes impressed Croft, who labelled Vowles as “my team boss of the year, without a doubt”. 

“If you look at the lead time that he had before he took up the role, you’re talking a matter of three months maximum,” Croft told the Sky F1 Podcast. 

“That is not a lot of time to put into operation any sort of plan where you hit the ground running and you get instant results.

“It became quickly apparent to me watching during testing that he was introducing simple tweaks and changes to the way Williams went racing that would make them better right from the start.

“Things that would have been run of the mill behind the scenes at Mercedes for a race team he was now bringing in to Williams to say, ‘look, I know you do it this way, try doing it this way.’

“Behind the scenes, he was also putting into preparation and operation, long-term planning for the future, identifying where he needed key members of technical staff.

“Pat Fry [Chief Technical Officer at Williams] joining was not a surprise to me whatsoever.”

And Croft believes Vowles will be in line for a move further up the F1 grid in the coming years. 

“He works brilliantly with the sponsors, he engages with the media,” Croft added. 

“Explains things not just about Williams, but about what’s going on on track.

“He engages with fans I love him on social media because he actually engages directly with the fans.

“People are inspired by him and I think he will go on to be one of the top team principals at a top team in three or four years time."