Albon 'excited by progress' delivered by Vowles

James Vowles has only been at the helm of Williams for a little over a month, but Alex Albon is excited to see the progress already achieved by the team thanks to its new leader.

Vowles was a surprise transfer in F1 at the start of the year, the former Mercedes top strategist leaving the Brackley squad to embark on a new challenge by taking the reins of Williams.

It's early days still as Vowles is still settling in at the Grove-based outfit, but so far, Albon has been impressed with the Briton's input and the long-term plans he has in store for the team.

"James has definitely got the knowledge from Mercedes," Albon said in Saudi Arabia. "He’s obviously a smart guy we need right now.

"It’s something where of course I think we do a lot of things good and there’s obviously other areas we can do differently, long term, short term, medium term.

"There’s all aspects to look at so I would say he’s only been here for a short while but listening to what he has to say he’s bringing a lot to the table.

"Hopefully that will keep on happening and I would say a lot of it is more long term than short term but I’m excited to see the progress."

• Read also: Williams car 'the best it's ever felt' ahead of DNF in Jeddah – Albon

Vowles himself says that he has felt a "spark" ignite at Williams since his arrival, with everyone now feeling that the team has a comprehesnive plan to move forward.

"There's a spark and it's fascinating to see," he said.

"There are shoulders lifted, there are heads held high now, there is really direction that they can see where we're going and how we're moving forward.

"It’s a team clearly that has had a tremendously difficult winter, and difficult few years even prior to that.

"But they can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel and direction we're going in."

Two races into the 2023 season, Williams has only scored a single point, courtesy of Albon in Bahrain. That's not exactly a surprising result given the team's struggles last season.

However, Albon – who claimed in Jeddah that his Williams car was the best it's ever felt – insists the team has made a step forward in terms of its performance level.

"In terms of a feeling with a car it feels quite similar to last year but we’ve definitely made some small steps here and there and as they’ve added up, it’s clearly much better," he said.

"I’m feeling like we’re in a much better place and we know there’s room for improvement as well which excites me a lot."

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