It is what it is. Williams is a weak in every area compared to the bigger teams. JV isn't going to change that overnight.
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Aston Martin can admit that they are f*cked up. At Williams, JV is trying to do the opposite, only to get exposed later. His drivers exposed that the car is overweight, not JV. They didn't showed up in Barcelona and according to JV they could have come to Barcelona but they didn't want to because they will pursue "maximum performance". Totally bulls*it and can't admit they are f*cked up.AR3-GP wrote:The JV criticism might be a little bit over the top now? Do I like how he answers questions? No, but I'll leave it at that.
It is what it is. Williams is a weak in every area compared to the bigger teams. JV isn't going to change that overnight.
So every other teams are pissing their drivers and designers when they say Verstappen and Newey is the guys on the grid? It was Vowles himself who denied the overweight before he got caught that they are very overweight told by their drivers in first place. He even made up a story that they can't know their car's weight. Of course every team know exactly how much each part weights. Now he talks that he has plan for underweight car in his email. He just can't admit that they are in trouble like Aston Martin.clownfish wrote:I don't understand why people keep posting stuff like this. Read between the lines.
If he says "I would have loved to get Verstappen" it will piss off his drivers
If he says "I would have loved to get Newey" it will piss off his designers
If he says "our car is overweight, has no downforce, we don't understand the PU and have no hope of doing well this year" it will piss off the sponsors.
He is doing his job which is to give non-answers to deflect stress away from his staff so they can get on with doing their jobs. We all know that Williams would love a Verstappen, a Hamilton, a Newey, but why would you say that in public?
Newey IMHO is not somebody to look up to in this regard. He has done the opposite of what he should have done: he's very publicly thrown their PU partner under the bus at the first bloody race! How is that relationship going to be now? Does he really think that embarrassing and putting more pressure on a team that's very clearly struggling going to help? "How to lose friends and alienate people"
Contrary to what you've said, I think it actually shows great insecurity on Newey's part that he's publicly blaming Honda with some really quite barbed comments. What he has done is not good management of the situation at all. Especially with a Japanese company.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑11 Mar 2026, 12:09So every other teams are pissing their drivers and designers when they say Verstappen and Newey is the guys on the grid? It was Vowles himself who denied the overweight before he got caught that they are very overweight told by their drivers in first place. He even made up a story that they can't know their car's weight. Of course every team know exactly how much each part weights. Now he talks that he has plan for underweight car in his email. He just can't admit that they are in trouble like Aston Martin.clownfish wrote:I don't understand why people keep posting stuff like this. Read between the lines.
If he says "I would have loved to get Verstappen" it will piss off his drivers
If he says "I would have loved to get Newey" it will piss off his designers
If he says "our car is overweight, has no downforce, we don't understand the PU and have no hope of doing well this year" it will piss off the sponsors.
He is doing his job which is to give non-answers to deflect stress away from his staff so they can get on with doing their jobs. We all know that Williams would love a Verstappen, a Hamilton, a Newey, but why would you say that in public?
Newey IMHO is not somebody to look up to in this regard. He has done the opposite of what he should have done: he's very publicly thrown their PU partner under the bus at the first bloody race! How is that relationship going to be now? Does he really think that embarrassing and putting more pressure on a team that's very clearly struggling going to help? "How to lose friends and alienate people"
This is pure insecurity from team principal.
As a team principal, when you can't admit anything, I don't think sponsors and shareholders are going to be pleased when you deny problems only to find out later that you were lying. He is just digging his own grave, and I'm not surprised if Vowles were to be sacked. Years of project he put all-in for '26, and it went all-in fold. He did talking so well that Sainz picked Williams over works team Audi and can't be suprised if Sainz is looking for an exit but there is nowhere to go.clownfish wrote:Contrary to what you've said, I think it actually shows great insecurity on Newey's part that he's publicly blaming Honda with some really quite barbed comments. What he has done is not good management of the situation at all. Especially with a Japanese company.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑11 Mar 2026, 12:09So every other teams are pissing their drivers and designers when they say Verstappen and Newey is the guys on the grid? It was Vowles himself who denied the overweight before he got caught that they are very overweight told by their drivers in first place. He even made up a story that they can't know their car's weight. Of course every team know exactly how much each part weights. Now he talks that he has plan for underweight car in his email. He just can't admit that they are in trouble like Aston Martin.clownfish wrote:I don't understand why people keep posting stuff like this. Read between the lines.
If he says "I would have loved to get Verstappen" it will piss off his drivers
If he says "I would have loved to get Newey" it will piss off his designers
If he says "our car is overweight, has no downforce, we don't understand the PU and have no hope of doing well this year" it will piss off the sponsors.
He is doing his job which is to give non-answers to deflect stress away from his staff so they can get on with doing their jobs. We all know that Williams would love a Verstappen, a Hamilton, a Newey, but why would you say that in public?
Newey IMHO is not somebody to look up to in this regard. He has done the opposite of what he should have done: he's very publicly thrown their PU partner under the bus at the first bloody race! How is that relationship going to be now? Does he really think that embarrassing and putting more pressure on a team that's very clearly struggling going to help? "How to lose friends and alienate people"
This is pure insecurity from team principal.
And yes, other teams probably are pissing off their drivers and designers by saying that.
Imagine being George Russell or Kimi Antonelli and reading that Toto is desperate to sign Verstappen. How do you think they feel about that?
The difference is, Mercedes is a top team with a great car, and drivers are actively pushing to be there.
Williams is not in this position. JV needs to whatever he can to keep the drivers on-side.
Of course he would take Verstappen over Albon or Sainz in a heartbeat, but he's not such a complete dimwit that he would admit that in public.
I think you're being far too dramatic here. We're one race into the season and everyone associated with the operation from top to bottom knows Williams is still progressing to even the baselines of a modern F1 team.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑11 Mar 2026, 14:57[As a team principal, when you can't admit anything, I don't think sponsors and shareholders are going to be pleased when you deny problems only to find out later that you were lying. He is just digging his own grave, and I'm not surprised if Vowles were to be sacked. Years of project he put all-in for '26, and it went all-in fold. He did talking so well that Sainz picked Williams over works team Audi and can't be suprised if Sainz is looking for an exit but there is nowhere to go.
At this point, talking about underweight car emails in your inbox is just a clown show. What does he think the rest of the grid will do, take a rest?
JV was not hired to put results on the table? I have never understood this Vowles hype.SealTheRealDeal wrote:JV is doing exactly what he was hired to do, protect Dorilton's investment portfolio by talking up the team and not rocking the boat. Newry/Krack and Komatsu can be frank about when things go wrong because Stroll Sr and Gene Haas (neither are perfect team owners by any means) actually have expectations and competitive drive.
Seriously? And what was the non-stop aura farming on podcasts in '25?
It's basic PR stuff my friend, I'm not going to keep explaining it.
Pr stuff? Top teams are denying that they are fastest but at Williams Vowles is denying they are back foot and overweight when missing Barcelona when they actually are very overweight. According to James they should have been now one of the top teams 2026. James is doing the opposite than others, trying to make s*it look like gold. And that is how insecure team principal acts. Why lie when you are in any case going to be get caught, that makes the team look silly.clownfish wrote:It's basic PR stuff my friend, I'm not going to keep explaining it.
As a Williams fan since '91, believe me: I'm bitterly disappointed with the performance. I was hoping for another 2014 thanks to the PU, and having two excellent drivers - but it's not going to happen.
Gut feel for me is that the team are still miles away from the big boys on facilities, probably stifled by the capex rules but this is *nothing* to do with the public statements James makes, appearing on podcasts etc, which are pure PR.