Vowles gets in the driver’s seat for Gulf 12 Hours event

©Williams

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Williams team principal James Vowles is set to trade the pit wall for a racing seat next month, the Briton donning his helmet and overall for a competitive comeback in the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi.

After his second season at the helm of Williams and guiding the Grove-based outfit through its remarkable turnaround, Vowles – a racer in his own right – will step back into the thick of the action, this time at the wheel of a McLaren GT3 EVO entered by Garage 59

The 12-hour GT endurance event, held at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit on December 14, will take place just a week after Formula 1’s season finale at the same venue.

While most team principals will be decompressing, Vowles will be buckling into his GT3 machine, leaning into the chaos of multi-class traffic, pit-stop cycles and nighttime stints as enthusiastically as he once dove into race strategy simulations.

He’ll join 2024 Pro-Am winner Alexander West, Mark Sansom and Marco Pulcini at Garage 59 – a squad he knows well from the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series.

And he’s not showing up rusty: Vowles has already put in mileage at Navarra earlier this year and clocked more laps at Jerez last month to get race-sharp again.

‘A chance to put on a race helmet again’

For Vowles, the competitive itch has clearly never faded. The Williams boss spoke with unmistakable enthusiasm about slipping back behind the wheel.

“The chance to put on a race helmet again is something I relish,” said Vowles.

“Garage 59 is a team I know well from our time together in 2022, and the Gulf 12 Hours is a fantastic event with a competitive grid.

“It will be a pleasure to share the car with Alex, Mark and Marco, and to experience racing from the driver’s seat again.”

It’s not often that an F1 team principal sneaks off to do an endurance race – but then again, not every team principal cut their teeth in race engineering while sneaking in competitive drives on the side.

Vowles’ return to GT racing reinforces that his passion for the sport isn’t confined to the management suite or the strategy laptop.
Come December 14, the Williams team kit will be swapped for fireproofs, and the team principal headset for a radio earpiece.

And when the lights go out at Yas Marina for the Gulf 12 Hours, Vowles won’t be calculating someone else’s race; he’ll be powering through his own.

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.