The minor differences between how F1's backmarkers and front runners operate at the track

If a Formula 1 team faces a season towards the back of the grid, it's most likely through either a misfiring design or simply (less of an issue today, with the cost cap) through a budget shortfall.  

When the hundreds of track-side personnel at each team enter the local airport's departure hall, cognisant of the fact that a lower-midfield finish is probably the most achievable result, that contingent must feel a sense of unease before even queuing up for check-in. Sure, they might have fun on the road, but their hopes of points rest solely on force majeure. 

Regardless, standards do not slip at the track. Operationally, the teams towards the back must run a tight ship to ensure they leave the circuit having got the most bang for their buck - and at least put themselves in the frame for greater rewards should the opportunity arise. 

Williams' head of vehicle performance Dave Robson is no stranger to the pitfalls of the back of the grid. Having been at Williams during its better years in the mid-2010s, Robson has also conducted the trackside orchestra when the team was circling the drain financially, prior to its 2020 buyout by Dorilton Capital. "Up, down and back up again," he puts it in an exclusive interview with Autosport, as the storied British outfit now plots its revival under the management of James Vowles. 

After several seasons pinned to the bottom of the constructors' standings, Williams has vaulted up to fifth overall - and has so far managed to bridge the gap between the top teams and the midfielders in 2025; the squad has successfully mixed it with the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari on occasion this campaign. A few seasons ago, any close-proximity battling on-track was simply due to a 'Top 4' car attempting to put a lap on a recalcitrant Williams driver. 

In its start to the current regulations, then helmed by ex-Volkswagen Motorsport chief Jost Capito, Williams had expected to make a step after ending 2021 in much finer fettle versus the end of the Williams family's reign. Instead, the 2022 car was something of a one-trick pony: quick in a straight line, yet lacking across a wider gamut of track conditions. Capito was removed from his post and replaced by Vowles prior to 2023's kick-off; that year's FW45 was a little less limited but still hamstrung by what Vowles described as outdated processes back at Grove.

Williams has been on the rise since Vowles joined

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

While 2024 started off on the back foot as the car was 10kg overweight, the team continued to improve through the year. By the end of the season, it was challenging more frequently for points and Q3 openings, although it came armed with a nasty streak and a penchant for tipping its drivers beyond the limit. Williams was keen on fixing the FW46’s flightiness and, with the commitment to improved standards behind the scenes, segues neatly into the concerted step forward for 2025. 

"I guess the midfield was always so tight that we didn't have to make a massive improvement to see quite a big change in the order," Robson says of the team's season so far, "which is obviously the thing that most people see. Behind the scenes for us, I think we've pretty much got the car we expected to have, so all the tools are working pretty well.  

“We've been pretty competitive across all the circuits we've been to [with the exception of the Spanish Grand Prix], and probably just as important is the race pace is pretty strong and we're not just strong in qualifying, which again is what we targeted. So far, so good." 

“When the car was really quite poor a few years ago, we made a big effort at track to make sure we were on top of everything we could be, so a little bit of that is paying off" Dave Robson

Not bad, for a team that was vocal in its commitment to its focus on 2026. When Vowles demonstrated his vision for the team upon his arrival at Grove, building a competitive car for either 2024 or 2025 did not feature on the agenda. Instead, these two cars would simply be reflective of the processes in place at the time. 2024’s car was the first attempt under Vowles’ reforms, with a no-contingency approach and proto-modern systems in place following the first wave of investment; 2025’s car was evidence of a year’s improvement with that outlook. 

But what about the difference at the track? Robson, whose hand has rested on the tiller for the past decade, says that many elements do change between running at the back of the grid versus the front. The change in expectations from a given weekend does change the team’s approach, although he adds that he aimed to keep standards high during Williams' decaying fortunes at the turn of the decade.

Williams has been much improved in 2025, despite it continually saying the focus is on the 2026 regulation change

Photo by: FIA

Even when the chips were down prior to Dorilton’s takeover, when the technical department turned up with a late (and illegal) car for 2019 and a merely very slow one in 2020, the trackside operators did their best to juice the lemons with which they were furnished.

“We did make quite a big effort,” Robson recalls. “When the car was really quite poor a few years ago, we made a big effort at track to make sure we were on top of everything we could be, so a little bit of that is paying off.  

“I think what is different now, now the car is more competitive – there are two things. One, you've got two highly competitive drivers, which definitely makes things easier on the one hand, because you've got twice the information to work with, more difficult on the other because there's now a bit of competition across the garage. 

“That can cause a little bit more tension when it comes to run plans and who's on which part of the track at which time. I think the big thing we still need to overcome is having more faith and more trust in the tools, like in Q1 for example, when we don't need to run a second set of tyres. 

“It's a long time since we've been in that position and it's quite hard to convince yourself that, actually, we're fine and we can save those sets for Q2 and Q3, but otherwise it's not too different.” 

The addition of Carlos Sainz to the team, per Robson, has ratcheted up the tempo. There’s always the temptation for any new recruit, especially those bestowed with years of experience racing for a team as revered as Ferrari, to alienate their new colleagues with tales from a more storied outfit – but so far, the Spaniard has apparently stayed relatively clear of doing so.

For the first time in many years, Williams has two strong drivers after signing Carlos Sainz from Ferrari for 2025

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

Williams knows that Sainz’s arrival was always going to be a boon; although the likes of Nicholas Latifi, Logan Sargeant, and Franco Colapinto all had their perks (we’ll leave what they were to you, dear reader), their lack of experience looked stark in comparison to Sainz’s bulging Filofax of information. 

Yet, Robson says that Sainz has “found a nice balance” with offering and receiving information from the team – and says there’s enough crossover to validate the squad's own processes. 

“I don't think everything we do was bad or poor or worse than Ferrari, even if it might be different, so he's adapted to a lot of that,” he adds. “At the same time there are a few things that they were doing, things that he's used to that we can take on board and adapt and make work for us, so I think that side of it has been pretty good.  

Vowles, evidently, has attended more than one seminar on the value of ‘brand storytelling’. Robson offers the other side of the story, a race team that always aimed to operate at the top of its game – and yet, one that still needed to make minor changes as it approaches the front of the grid

“A lot of what he's brought is almost confirmation that what we've been trying to do for the last 12, 18, 24 months has been right, it's just we were a little bit behind Ferrari saying we can get into that point, but at least we have been going in the right direction.” 

The differences between a down-on-its-luck outfit and one on the approach to a peak are not altogether huge; at the risk of sounding like a hackneyed line from a Jake Humphrey podcast, these are all high-performance outfits. The key differentiation lies in the hardware provided to the team at the track, and in that team making the most of the equipment given. 

In Williams’ case, the story of improving its processes behind closed doors has been well documented; Vowles, evidently, has attended more than one seminar on the value of ‘brand storytelling’. Robson offers the other side of the story, a race team that always aimed to operate at the top of its game – and yet, one that still needed to make minor changes as it approaches the front of the grid.

Robson knows that Williams is still far from where it wants to be

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images