The Williams Formula 1 team appointed James Vowles as its new team boss on Friday.
He succeeds Jost Capito, who left the roster in late 2022 after just two seasons, and will be only the third team boss at Williams, after Capito and team founder Frank Williams.
Vowles is an F1 veteran with 21 years of experience in the sport, most of which was spent with the highly successful Mercedes-Benz AMG F1 Team, where he held positions as an engineer and most recently as Head of Strategy.
Before that he also worked at the previous incarnations of the Mercedes team, Brawn GP and Honda.
“I can’t wait to compete with Williams Racing,” Vowles said in a statement. “The team is an icon of our sport that I hold in high esteem and I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”
Vowles will have a sense of familiarity with Williams as the team uses Mercedes power units. There is even speculation that with Vowles at the helm of Williams, there could be a closer working relationship with his former team in the future.
Williams is still looking for a technical director after François-Xavier Demaison left at the same time as Capito.
Williams is still undergoing a transformation that began in late 2020 after the team’s sale to US investment firm Dorilton Capital. In addition to a new team boss, the team also has a new driver for the upcoming 2023 season. US driver Logan Sargeant was selected last November to take the place of outgoing driver Nicholas Latifi. Joining Sargeant is current Williams driver Alex Albon.
