“There was a small gathering with the police”: Williams Racing boss reveals an altercation with cops involving him, Fred Vasseur, and more

James Vowles, team principal of Williams Racing, had an interesting start for the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. The 45-year-old British engineer, along with a few senior members of the F1 fraternity, had a run-in with the police on the way to Spielberg.

Before taking the top seat at Williams Racing, Vowles worked with Honda Racing, Brawn, and Mercedes-AMG. He was responsible for race strategy as well as performance analysis at the German outfit and is noted as one of the key people for the team's eight consecutive constructor championships.

Vowles, Stefano Domenicali (CEO of Formula 1 group), Fred Vassuer (Ferrari's team principal), and a few others were caught speeding on the highway while traveling to Red Bull Ring for race weekend.

During the mandatory media interaction, Vowles apologized for the delay and explained the situation. He jokingly called it a gathering of some sort at the police station to lighten the situation.

Although Vowles did not divulge details of how fast they were going, getting a ticket for speeding is not something to be taken lightly. Here's a look at the X post by Williams Racing, captioned:

"Some fun en route to track this morning 🫣🚓."

"Lars, for the first time today, was faster than both Alex and Logan through a police speed trap. The bad news is Fred from Ferrari was faster than us and Dom as well, so there's a small gathering this morning with the police which was fun," Vowles said (0:05 onwards).

While it may sound fun, speeding on public roads sometimes has drastic consequences.

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Here's a brief look at Williams Racing's performance in the 2024 Formula 1 season so far

Considered one of the most iconic Formula 1 teams, Williams Racing is looking to make a difference in the midfield this year. However, the British team had a dismal start for the 2024 season in Bahrain.

While Alex Albon was able to finish the race in 15th place, his teammate Logan Sargeant ended last (20th position), one lap behind the former. The team improved in Saudi Arabia, where Albon ended the race in 11th and Sargeant in 14th. While Albon matched his best result in Australia, Sargeant had to withdraw due to a mechanical issue.

The situation worsened in Japan, with the young Thai driver DNFing and Sargeant finishing last (17th). Since then, the results have remained similar in China, Miami, and Emilia Romagna (Albon- 12th, 18th, DNF and Sargeant- 17th, DNF, 17th, respectively). There was no improvement in Canada and Spain.

Williams's only points-scoring race this season was in Monaco (2 points), where Albon finished 9th. Now, ahead of the Sprint race in Austria, both Albon and Sargeant are out in SQ3 and SQ2, respectively.