Guenther Steiner has offered a pessimistic view of James Vowles’ future within Williams after a difficult 2026 Formula 1 season for the team.
Coming into the new era of the F1 regulations, Williams have fallen short of expectations, inside and outside of the team.
Despite spending the hybrid era as a backmarker team, when James Vowles joined the team in 2023 as their team principal, they began to take the important steps forward.
A shift in fortunes since 2023
It was a learning curve for the ex-Mercedes employee, who restructured and reworked Williams from day one. He spoke about how a huge portion of the job early on was just organising the team, frequently using an anecdote about the Excel sheet with every car part written on it.
However, his results were undeniable in the first few seasons and after signing Carlos Sainz as he departed Ferrari, the team looked to have a bright future.
In 2025, the final year of the regulations, Williams claimed the best-of-the-rest title, finishing fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with two podiums under their belts. A far cry from only having one chassis in the 2024 season.
The team went into 2026 with high hopes, and unfortunately the Grove team has fallen short.
In most races, the driver duo of Alex Albon and Sainz sit at the back of the field, narrowly beating out the two Cadillacs and Aston Martins. They’ve picked up just 11 points in their Constructors battle so far.
Steiner spoke about the future for Vowles, knowing intimately what it’s like as a team principal for a struggling team. Steiner said that Vowles still needs more time under the new regulations.
“As much as I think he’s not doing a good job, I think you need to at least give him time to read all his emails,” Steiner joked on The Red Flags Podcast.
“He got them at the beginning of the year. He knows what to do, he just didn’t have time to read them. So, let him read his emails. Find a solution by the end of the year. If he hasn’t got to all the emails by the end of the year, then let him go.”
A deadline for success
The 2026 regulations are a massive overhaul on what the teams are used to, and with that in mind Steiner offered his deadline for Vowles: “I think it’s the beginning of next season, if it’s the same as this season. I think they went into spam, or were deleted, these emails, and he needs to go then.
“If it is continuing the way that it currently is, five or six races into [next year], there’ll be changes. You’ve had enough time to read your emails and improve things. And if you haven’t, then you’re out.”
Williams had made an impressive amount of progress from 2024 to 2025, but Steiner pointed out the team is now going backwards.
It’s reached a boiling point in the team, with rumours circulating that Sainz is looking for alternative seats for the future.
Looking at the situation within the team, Steiner admitted that the ‘progress is in the wrong direction’.
“They promised us at the beginning of the season, ‘We will be back; we know exactly what to do,” Steiner added. “Guess what? They’re going backwards instead of forwards at the moment. All the progress is in the wrong direction.”
Coming back after the summer break will be a key point for the Grove team as they hope to move forward through the field and secure Sainz’s tenure with the team. However, if performance fails to improve, it’s understandable that the pressure will fall on Vowles.
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