Vowles stunned by RB19 floor: "No point in copying"

For Williams team boss James Vowles, a whole new world opened up when the photos of the Red Bull Racing car floor started spreading like wildfire. It was striking how different that floor was compared to the Williams car floor, and it was a painful testament to the fact that the British team is still lagging behind when it comes to the details. Vowles knows that Williams must solve this on their own because copying won't be of any use.

When Sergio Pérez crashed in Q1 of the Monaco Grand Prix, the RB19 had to be lifted off the track. Christian Horner wasn't too concerned about it at the time, as he believed that their rivals wouldn't have gained entirely new knowledge. However, he might have been mistaken, as Vowles was very impressed by what he saw. "Of course, we compared the floor of that car to our own," the British team boss says in a Williams video. "It became clear as day that we are lagging behind the competition in terms of details," Vowles asserts.

"The floor generates a lot of downforce for a modern Formula 1 car and is crucial for the balance characteristics of the race car. Of course, we are studying the Monaco footage, but simply copying the floor of Red Bull or Mercedes is not a solution," the Williams team boss continues. "You need to understand why others choose certain solutions. If you don't understand the aerodynamics or the concept behind the car, there is no point in copying." In short, copying another team's concept does not guarantee success.

"We will make improvements over the course of the next two to three races"

Additionally, Vowles states that the Monaco photos of the RB19 floor were just a snapshot in time. "Furthermore, these images represent a snapshot of the car's development status at the end of March. It takes up to eight weeks to develop a component like a new floor. Therefore, a team such as Red Bull Racing is already considerably ahead of what we could see in Monaco," explains the Brit. "Ultimately, each team must find its own way to efficiently develop the race car. At Williams, we will make improvements to the car over the course of the next two to three races, but it is not yet clear whether this will happen gradually or all at once," Vowles concludes.