Jenson Button has dubbed James Vowles the “best team leader in the pit lane”, after his time learning under Toto Wolff at Mercedes.
Vowles took the helm of Williams in 2023 after departing Mercedes, in what is his first role as a Formula 1 team principal, and the 2009 World Champion – who worked with him while he was a strategist as Button drove at BAR – admitted he had initial doubts over the step up, which have since been proven wrong.
James Vowles dubbed ‘best team leader’ by Jenson Button after ‘mini Toto’ spell
Vowles had spent two decades at Brackley working up the ranks through its time as BAR, Honda and Brawn, eventually serving as Mercedes’ chief strategist before taking on the role of motorsport strategy director in 2019.
He was chosen to succeed Jost Capito as Williams team principal in late 2022, and has spoken of wanting to improve the team’s infrastructure and set out ambitious targets to bring the Grove-based outfit back to the front of the field.
In doing so, Vowles was a key catalyst in bringing Carlos Sainz to Williams from 2025 onwards and Button, who started his Formula 1 career with Williams back in 2000, said he is “very proud” of Vowles and the job he has done as the team principal at Williams so far.
He did admit to initial doubts over the step up, but added he had not realised how closely he had worked with Wolff at Mercedes to make the leap to such a role in Formula 1, leading Button to add his belief that his former colleague stands as the “best leader in the pit lane.”
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“I think it’s an incredibly good line-up, and hats off to James Vowles on achieving that,” Button said of Williams’ 2025 pairing of Sainz and Alex Albon on the Sky F1 podcast.
“He’s a sweet talker, as we all know. I think in his role at Williams, he really has been exceptional – and [I’m] proud to see what he’s achieved.
“I worked with him as a strategist back in 2003 [at BAR], so to see him take the reins at Williams, a team with such history – very proud of him.
“It’s great to see what he’s doing there, having such a driver line-up, guys that have so much experience in this sport, and I think drivers that will work really well together, will really lift this team and help them move forward.”
When asked if he believed Vowles would make a good team principal when he had worked with him two decades ago at BAR, Button replied with a smile: “No, no. Even when the team announced him, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool. That’s really cool.’ But behind the scenes, I didn’t know how close James was to Toto, and he was basically a mini Toto.
“He was learning from Toto and I didn’t know that, so I’m really impressed with him. And I have to say, for me, he’s the best team leader in the pit lane.”
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