Russell heaps praise on Team Principal Vowles and Albon as Williams ‘resurgence’ continues

30 August 2023

George Russell has hailed James Vowles as “the best man for the job” at Williams after the Grove outfit delivered another eye-catching performance at the Dutch Grand Prix and continued their rise up the constructors’ standings.

Brought in at the start of the season to steady the ship and build towards another era of success following Williams’ golden days of the 1980s and 1990s, former Mercedes man Vowles has overseen some encouraging early results.

After fine runs to seventh in Canada and eighth in Britain with Alex Albon, the Thai-British racer made the most of tricky, changeable conditions to qualify a remarkable fourth at Zandvoort, which he turned into more valuable points with another P8 finish on race day.

The results have put Williams seventh in the F1 table after 13 races, ahead of Haas, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri, with Russell – who previously worked alongside Vowles at the Silver Arrows – impressed by both Albon and the new man in charge.

“I’m really pleased to see [Albon] up there and it goes to show, when you get your confidence, how that can really transform the performance,” the Mercedes driver commented.

Albon and Williams mixed it towards the front of the field throughout the Zandvoort weekend

“Williams is making a huge amount of progress at the moment and I think James Vowles is having a really positive impact there. I think he’s definitely the best man for the job for what Williams need at the moment for their resurgence.

“It’s great to see more than just the top teams fighting and that’s what we want in F1, we want everybody to have a chance if they do a good job.”

BEHIND THE SCENES: 48 hours in the life of AlphaTauri super-sub Liam Lawson at Zandvoort

Russell was speaking alongside Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris during the post-qualifying press conference, with his F1 rivals also offering some words of praise to Albon and Williams.

“They’ve been quick all weekend and they’ve been quick in the wet, they’ve been quick in the dry, so that’s very impressive to see,” said Verstappen. “That’s great for the sport as well, that more teams are up there.

Vowles hoping Williams ‘earn the right’ to keep in-demand Alex Albon long term

“I’m very happy for Alex himself. He’s a great guy, he was my team mate before, we always had a good time. I’m very happy for him to be up there and have – for at least this weekend – a very competitive car.”

Norris added: “I wouldn’t say it’s a big, big surprise, because they’ve been very competitive at certain places, but every now and then… Silverstone was a similar thing, [Albon] was P1 through practice and so on.

“Now, they just managed to keep it more through qualifying and into Q3 especially, so I’m happy for him and the whole team. Logan [Sargeant] was there all the way pretty much into Q3.

“They look strong, they made some big progress this season, and yes, it’s good to have them in the battle too.”