BEYOND THE GRID: James Vowles on his podium pride and Williams’ winning potential

With 16 Drivers’ and Teams’ World Championships combined, Williams are the third most successful team in Formula 1 history – behind Ferrari and McLaren.

But they haven’t won a title since 1997, and it has been 13 years since they last took a race victory, so Team Principal James Vowles is on a mission to bring the glory days back to the Grove-based outfit.

In 2025, the team have taken big steps towards success. Carlos Sainz secured the team’s first podium in four years when he finished third in Baku, and they have amassed their highest points total since 2016.

Speaking to Beyond The Grid host Tom Clarkson, James reveals what he and Carlos spoke about over dinner before that sensational podium, why that result means so much to the whole team, and the reasons Carlos had endured a frustrating season up to that point.

On the other side of the garage, James shares what he thinks is different about Alex Albon this year and how he has risen to the challenge of having a much more experienced and competitive team mate.

And while Williams have performed better than expected in 2025 with such a strong driver line-up, their main focus is 2026. So what opportunities will the new era of Formula 1 bring them?

Given James’ first-hand experience of the intense championship battles between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, what would his approach be if Alex and Carlos are fighting for a title in the coming years?

To listen to this week’s episode, simply hit go on the audio player above or click here to listen via your preferred podcasting platform.

You can also check out a huge selection of previous episodes – spanning every decade of F1 – in our dedicated Beyond The Grid library here.