‘There’s no reason’ Williams can’t win races and F1 championships again, says Jenson Button

Williams’ Formula 1 team last won the championship in 1997 and they won their last race in 2012 when Pastor Maldonado took charge flag during a shocking Spanish Grand Prix. Since then, Williams was stuck at the back of the pack fighting for points and appearances in Q2 whenever it can get them. Now, former F1 driver Jenson Button believes the team is ready for a comeback.

Button, who declared World champion in 2009 with Brawn GP and raced for Williams in his first F1 season in 2000 told Jalopnik that the team is now in a much better position than it has been in recent years.

With driver Alex Albon and Sergeant Logan at the wheel and new team principal James Vowles is running things, he says the team is quickly running out of “excuses” as to why they are not getting back to winning ways in F1.

“I think under new leadership, it’s really in a great place,” Button told Jalopnik when we discussed Zoom. “It’s still developing, it takes time. But they have good riders, they have a good team. And, yes, it’s in a good place right now, Williams.”

When Button drove for the team more than 20 years ago, it was owned by the Williams family and headed by the late Sir Frank Williams, who founded the team in 1977. Despite becoming one of the most successful teams in F1 history, The team started to get confused when F1 switched to hybrid engines, ranking bottom in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

During those difficult years, the Williams family sold the team and new management was brought in. Now, the team is led by Former Mercedes strategy director James Vowleswho has spent the past year trying to turn the team around.

Button said: “Initially with James Vowles as the new big boss of the team, I wasn’t sure if it was the right decision. “I worked with James when he was a data engineer and I just remember him as a kid. But, oh, he’s come a long way.”

inside decade since Button’s work with Vowles at BAR in 2003, the British engineer studied at Mercedes’ Toto Wolff management school. Button believes this has made him “one of the best team principals on pit lane.”

According to Button, with Vowles in charge, there is now “a lot of life in the group”, and he added that “under his leadership, there are no excuses now”.

“There’s no reason why Williams can’t fight on the front line in the future,” Button said. “It’s a matter of time. Things don’t happen overnight, it’s important that everyone gets behind it.”

Now, the UK-based team is making progress. From 2022 to 2023, Williams jumped from last place with 8 points to 7th place with 28 points. Time to present this year The F1 package seems much closerbut the team is showing promise – if you can see past all the costly incidents.

In an effort to find out how his current form compares to some of his most successful seasons, Williams has teamed up with American brewer Michelob Ultra to create ‘Lap Of Legends’, a TV show The special image compares historic Williams drivers and their cars with current F1 machinery.

In the special scheduled to air on May 14, Button will join former Williams drivers Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell to race against Logan Sargeant and his 2023 Williams F1 car in a historic high-tech race drivers in the digital world versus F1 drivers in the real world.

“This is the first time this has been done,” Button said. “I still don’t know how they did it, to be fair Michelob Ultra made this possible, but it shows how far technology has come.”