rich 1.0 2026 was supposed to be the year Williams made a big step forward in Formula 1. They’d scored their first podiums under Team Principal James Vowles in 2025, all while prioritising focus on this new era of regulations, so expectations of what they could achieve this season were high. But they’ve fallen well short of those. Speaking to Tom Clarkson, James talks about the phone calls he had with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz before the season to tell them the team was ‘in trouble’, whether he was worried both drivers would leave and why the car was overweight in the first place. James is very honest and self-critical, reflecting on what he’d do differently and the advice he’d give himself in hindsight. But he’s also optimistic about the future, with the team fighting hard to overcome their struggles and showing ‘true innovation’ to create a new chassis that was introduced in Baku. This episode is sponsored by: Salesforce: Ever wondered what really happens behind the scenes at Formula 1? From the broadcast room to the track, see how the fastest sport on earth runs on Salesforce. Head salesforce.com/F1 to watch Inside F1, powered by Salesforce. Vanta: Learn more at vanta.com/GRID Shopify: If you’re ready to launch your business before Black Friday, go to SHOPIFY.COM/beyondthegrid to start your free trial. F1 Beyond The Grid https://audioboom.com/channels/4964339-f1-beyond-the-grid Audioboom https://audioboom.com 480 95 https://audioboom.com/i/43871251/600x600/c 600 600 <iframe width="100%" height="95" src="https://embeds.audioboom.com/posts/8961250/embed?v=202301" style="background-color: transparent; display: block; padding: 0; width: 100%" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="allowtransparency" scrolling="no" title="Audioboom player" allow="autoplay" sandbox="allow-downloads allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>