2 years. It’s been that long since Williams last scored a Formula 1 World Championship point. But in Hungary this race finally came to an end and achieved a result not just with one but with both cars that, according to team principal and CEO Jost Capito, “felt like a victory”.
Williams has been tied to the end of the Constructors’ Championship since 2018, but took a turn in the winter and, despite minor changes to the regulations, modeled a car that managed to make Q3 twice and battled for points on several occasions that year.
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In Hungary, Nicholas Latifi and George Russell crossed finish lines eight and ninth a total of 10 points for the team, aided in part by the wet weather that caused a chaotic start and resulted in the elimination of five drivers.
“It means a lot for the team to get the first points, especially after getting zero points last year and being so close to a point this year,” Capito told F1.com. “We got six points and in the end it looks like 10 points – and that’s a fantastic result we’ve been waiting for. We always said the points would come. And when they finally came, it was like a victory for us. “
How Latifi and Russell scored Williams’ first points since 2019 in Hungary
The points win sets them apart in the constructors’ standings and above Alfa Romeo and Haas and is one of the first visible fruits of a restructuring that Capito initiated after taking over the team before this season.
“We’re doing things a little differently than before,” he said. “We changed the communication and the meetings. “We are becoming more and more aligned. Now there are no surprises – and we have very fast lines of communication when we have to make decisions. It’s a lot leaner than before and that helps in the situations we had in Hungary.
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“That was the tire choice before the race [when it was spitting with rain], then the red flag [when tyre choice was again critical], then the situation with George in the pit lane [when he passed cars before being instructed to give them back to avoid a penalty], then we saw that he might have a problem with the fuel and stop after the finish line.
Capito hugs Latifi after the Canadian’s first points result in Formula 1
“There had to be a lot of quick decisions to be made and if one of them had been wrong we would not have gotten into the points. Aside from the luck that we weren’t involved in the accidents on the first lap, we all had to make these decisions right to get into the points. It would be wrong to say it’s just luck. Even if you’re in this position at the end of the first lap, you still have to do 70 laps and every decision has to be right to end up where we are. “
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Capito added that the mentality at Williams has changed this year. Now they believe that if they do everything right, they will fight for points more regularly.
“It’s a relief for the team to get the points after waiting so long,” he said. “If we got eleventh a few months ago, everyone would be excited. Now we are disappointed. I’ve seen a change in the team. People are no longer satisfied with a position outside of the points. We won’t always get points, but we want points. To get Hungary’s points, it is confirmation that we can do. The number of points does not matter. It’s about execution. And we drove the race in Hungary well. “
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