Vowles up for “days at a time” in 2023

In brief

Vowles up for “days at a time”

James Vowles admits that he did not sleep for “days at a time” last season due to the pressures of being Williams team principal.

Vowles joined the team from Mercedes as its team principal at the beginning of last season. The team jumped from tenth in the championship in 2022 to seventh last year.

“In terms of me personally, perhaps I didn’t recognise to an extent the weight that applies to your shoulders,” Vowles said. “We push things right to the limit and very late, there’s no doubt about it.

“There were times where I don’t mind admitting I wasn’t sleeping for probably days at a time, because the weight of a thousand people falls on your shoulders. But I’m confident that what we are doing is right for the future and that confidence is what allows me to get all of the team together and talk it through, which is what we’ve done over the last few weeks, and then come together as a group and end up with the car that has fired up, which is a momentous occasion.”

Ferrari junior Taponen has one hand on FRMEC title

Ferrari academy driver Tuukka Taponen extended his healthy championship advantage in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship to 50 points after a dominant display in the third and final race of the weekend at Yas Marina yesterday.

After Rafael Camara took victory in the first of Saturday’s two races ahead of McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu and Zachary David, Taponen led every lap of race three from pole position, leading home former Ferrari junior James Wharton in second with David finishing third again.

Taponen looks set to win the championship next weekend over the final three races in Dubai with a 50 point lead over Taylor Barnard.

Bilinski takes yet another FROC win

Formula Regional Oceania Championship standings leader Roman Bilinski added yet another win to his tally as he move even further ahead in the championship standings at Ruapuna.

With his sixth win from the first ten races in the championship, Bilinski now holds a 54-point lead in the drivers’ standings. There are two further races on Sunday.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

Red Bull F1 team is Horner’s vision. What if its driving force leaves? (Motor Sport)

‘The technical core of the team is there, the sharp strategy team, the deep understanding which underscores performance in this formula: they will be enough to allow Max Verstappen to continue much as he would with Horner still there. For a time, at least.’

Red Bull return makes perfect sense for Alex Albon’s redemption story (Mirror)

‘Albon will no doubt be a strong candidate for the Mercedes seat that will soon be vacated by Lewis Hamilton. The Silver Arrows have a strong relationship with Williams which has only been bolstered by Vowles’ move from being one of Toto Wolff’s top lieutenants to taking charge of their customer team.’

Haas sponsor MoneyGram takes Steiner exit in its stride (Malay Mail)

MoneyGram chief marketing officer Greg Hall: ”Guenther’s left and he was well loved in Drive to Survive. People who liked Guenther are always going to like Guenther. He’s a great guy. From a racing perspective, coaches get changed all the time. You can be a great coach but if you’re not producing results owners tend to make changes. I think most people kind of understand that.”

Max wins final race of Real Racers Never Quit (Verstappen)

‘Max won the last race of Real Racers Never Quit. At Fuji Speedway, Verstappen managed to keep Gianni Vecchio and William Chadwick behind. It was Max’s third victory in the championship.’

Doohan sets sights on international triathlon (Speedcafe)

‘Everyone is saying at this time of year training is good, that I’m the fittest I’ve ever been and whatnot. But to be honest, I do feel that way. I was able to go further and start training for more triathlon and long, endurance training. I completed in my first half-marathon race, did a triathlon out there on January 14 as well. Now I’m training for an Olympic, international championship triathlon in Cannes coming up as well, and then a half ironman in Nice in June.”

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