After Williams was anchored at the back of the grid for the past two years, scoring just a single point in 48 races between 2019 and 2021, Williams finally ended his top 10 drought at the Hungarian Grand Prix when Nicholas Latifi finished his home teammate George Russell cited in the seventh.
Since Hungary, Williams has scored points in three of the last four events with at least one car, including the season’s best result of second place in Belgium after Russell’s stunning qualifying lap in wet conditions resulted in a first podium when the race was abandoned.
But how did the ex-world champions achieve regular points in such a short time?
According to team boss Capito, who took over the day-to-day management of Williams following the departure of Simon Roberts earlier this summer, this was not “suddenly” but rather the culmination of great efforts to find continuous improvements amid recent organizational changes.
Related articles
Since arriving, Capito has overseen several experimental changes to the way the team communicates and works in his role, which has now expanded to team leader.
That includes capitalizing on the competitive landscape Williams finds itself in by promoting an approach that opens the door to taking calculated risks.
Related articles
“It’s a continuous improvement in the way we work,” explained Capito.
“We changed our organization, we changed the communication, we changed the responsibilities, so we work a lot more as a team.
“We also changed the strategy for how we approach the racing event. And we have become a bit more proactive and aggressive and not just defensive. I think we’re more proud of the surgery and said we could do things differently.
“When you have the ninth fastest car, you can try things differently and not always fall by the wayside trying to keep what you have, try something different that others may not be able to try because they are in front and for them it would be risky.
“I think we took the risk a couple of times, including choosing tires for the weather, and it worked.
“I think it shows that the team works better as a whole team when it comes to communication. I’m surprised how much the car can get faster without actually improving the car. “
The turnaround brings Williams with 23 points to eighth place in the constructors’ championship before the last seven races of the season.
Given the lack of competitiveness from its main competitors Alfa Romeo (ninth) and Haas (10th), it is likely that Williams will be able to hold that position through to the end of the year.
The Grove-based team is currently 16 points ahead of Alfa Romeo, which has just seven points for the season with a best result of eight, while Haas has not yet hit the mark this season.
Another key factor in making Williams more competitive is the introduction of a streamlined approach to the technical department following the hiring of Francois-Xavier (FX) Demaison as technical director.
Demaison was an important early commitment for Capito, who developed an impressive partnership with his head of design during their time together at Volkswagen.
“The groups are working more closely together,” said Capito. “Before it was like track construction and building services. Everything is under a technical director and the technical director was absent before.
“So these groups are now working more closely together, respecting each other more and getting more out of each other. Everything is understood better because more people talk to each other and understand each other better. “
Despite the impending departure of Mercedes-linked Russell – who will be replaced by Alex Albon in 2022 – things look much more promising for Williams as he moves into the Formula 1 revolution.
The post What’s behind Williams’s newfound F1 competitiveness? first appeared on monter-une-startup.
