F1 Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds has outlined that key areas that newly appointed Williams Team Principal James Vowles needs to focus on. Prior to taking up his role at Formula 1, Symonds was the Williams team's Chief Technical Officer, coming in at the start of the hybrid era in 2014 until 2016. During that period the squad achieved 14 podiums, as well as one pole at the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix. Symonds drew on that period when asked about what Vowles needs to focus on to turn the team around from their recent decline. "Strategy, and when I say strategy, I don't mean race strategy. Because when people rule by race strategy, which everyone knows James for, it's much more about tactics," he told RacingNews365.com . "What he needs to do is have a look at what's there and what needs doing. I went there in 2013 and did that job, and I turned it from a team that's finishing ninth to a team that's finishing third. "I think James might well be able to do that, he's very, very intelligent."
Symonds: Could take a while to get things going at Williams
Williams' last podium was taken during the controversial end to the 2021 Belgium Grand Prix, where torrential rain meant half points were still awarded as less than 75% of the race distance had been completed. It was at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when Lance Stroll finished in P3, that the outfit scored a podium on merit after completing the full race. In 2022 the team scored just eight points, with a highest placed finish of P9 on three occasions. Symonds believes it will take a while before Williams are able to get back to their top five form. He continued: "It will take a while to get things going. I was quite lucky because I had a good base to work from, it just wasn't being applied properly. So I was able to turn things around a lot quicker than I expected. "In reality, it takes three years to get a team organised and up to speed. You've got to employ people these days and it could be six months to two years' notice, waiting to finish your contract and things like that. "It's very, very hard to just go out and get the people you want."
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