McMika98 wrote: ↑21 Jun 2024, 22:50
James Vowles is getting such a pass by everyone, helps that he is a sweet talking enchanter. He should be sacked by now, pathetic that last year's car was almost as fast as this years. He got all the credit for a car built by his predecessors who got on the job, no excuses and chipped at it but were sacked. Yet Vowles has a car that is now the weakest in the field.
Last year they stopped development early after Canada to focus on this year's car and it is a dog shite. How you build a 12 kg lighter chassis only to make a car at least 10 kg over the weight limit. Why isn't anyone asking the question. Surely just use last year's parts and they should be well under the weight limit.
Albon low-key has said in couple of races that he wanted to try to run last year's car aero package to see if might be quicker. Now they are already focusing on next year like they did last year, don't be surprised if they cancel that and say 2026 is the goal. Fool me once.
Williams could've continued working as hard as they could with the ineffective processes they had, but it would merely maximize the outcome of a hopeless way of working.
Better to introduce some changes under the leadership of a vastly experienced person who knows what it takes to succeed, take an initial hit in performance and trust that the new way of working proves more effective over time.
I do agree with you that the weight issue is hard to excuse. They have clearly overreached in trying to produce a top chassis while neglecting other areas of the car.
It's slightly concerning because Vowles might've pushed for this himself. Coming from Mercedes, he might've assumed that other aspects of the car get sorted out in the background while the main focus is put on bringing the chassis up to state-of-the-art standards. Such was the in-depth talent and capacity at Mercedes. Now at Williams, he has to spread the teams attention and balance their time and resources. The over-capacity that he was used to simply isn't there at Williams.
Ultimately though, we don't have all the facts and we shouldn't underestimate Vowles. He and Pat Fry might've planned for them to re-use the 24 chassis in 25 which makes sense. They'll be able to sort out all the other overweight bits throughout the season and through the winter.
