Why Williams F1 team is no longer living “hand-to-mouth”

With investment and commitment from owners Dorilton, incoming team boss Vowles has been backed to make sweeping changes to restore the winner of seven drivers’ and nine constructors’ titles to its former glory.

But instead of putting all its efforts into just surviving another year, its fresh impetus under F1’s budget cap means Vowles and his recent key hire Pat Fry as CTO can now fully chart out where Williams’ Grove facility and its staff need to be in five years and put all the intermediate steps in place to get there.

While Vowles’ new-look Williams isn’t built in a day, and the team is unlikely to make big jumps until the 2026 regulation reset, Fry felt the team has to develop a “winning mindset”.

“There are all sorts of things that James has sort of unlocked,” Robson told Motorsport.com.

“I think that probably one of the biggest things is for the first time in a long time we’re not just focused on today and tomorrow, so you can afford to have a much more long-term or medium-term view on things.

“That’s completely different to how it’s been probably since 2014-2015. It’s not hand-to-mouth anymore, so that changes an awful lot.”

Robson says Vowles’ strong mandate by its owners has led to much swifter decision-making and the implementation of a healthier company culture.

“That whole sort of philosophy about how we do the R&D, what the real goals are, becomes quite different,” Robson explained. “On top of that, he’s been able to come in and see exactly where the weaknesses are.

“Having that sort of experience and authority come in means that there’s not that much discussion, the investment needs to be made, the investors are prepared to make that investment. And now we’ve got a clear sense of confidence as to where we should be.

“Whereas before, even if the money was available, we had to do all the work to understand why it was the right place to invest in. So that makes a big difference.

“His whole way of leading is quite different. I think it’s probably taken a bit of time for everyone to come to terms…