Being a Formula 1 team principal is an incredibly stressful job and involves trying to manage thousands of people working simultaneously around the world.
Ultimately, you’re responsible for hundreds of decisions made throughout a race weekend that can be the difference between standing on the top step of the podium or watching your cars trundle home outside of the points.
Former F1 world champion Damon Hill was speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast and discussing the situation one team principal in particular has had to deal with.
One team who have had a very difficult start to the 2024 season is Williams.
After an impressive 7-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship last year, they’ve failed to score a point in the first four races.
Alex Albon has come close, finishing just one point outside of the top ten in Australia.
However, the bottom five teams have been cut adrift by the leading pack, making the battle to score points incredibly close.
Damon Hill has admitted that he wouldn’t want to be Williams team principal James Vowles right now.
Not only are Williams in a real battle to get off the mark right now, but they’re also dealing with some serious limitations in developing their cars.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes relationship
Damon Hill admits he wouldn’t want to be Williams boss James Vowles
To demonstrate just how much pressure Williams have been under in 2024, we have to go all the way back to Bahrain.
Williams waited until they arrived in Sakhir to shakedown their car, showing just how close they cut finishing the FW46 before testing began.
Alex Albon wasn’t blown away in testing by the car, but they’ve held their own compared to the likes of Alpine.
They pushed developments to the limit in the winter and that led to the disastrous outcome in Australia that saw them only run one car in the race.
Albon crashed in free practice and Vowles had to make the difficult decision to hand Logan Sargeant’s chassis to his teammate.
The American didn’t even complete a flying lap in Japan on his return to action before Daniel Ricciardo took out his teammate on the opening lap in Suzuka.
Sargeant spun out later in the race and finished last and Hill has admitted that Vowles is in an incredibly difficult position at Williams.
He’ll be desperate for both of his drivers to be careful this weekend, especially with two opportunities to score points.
Damon Hill suggests how Albon and Sargeant should approach Chinese Grand Prix
Talking to fellow co-host Pedro De La Rosa about the upcoming race weekend, Hill said: “Given Pedro [De La Rosa] that it’s a Sprint [weekend], the jeopardy is double now!
“And oh my god, I wouldn’t want to be James Vowles, I don’t know what I’d say to them all right now.
“I mean, I’d probably say, ‘I’ll tell you what, go out, do a couple of laps, park it and we’ll start at the back, just stay out of trouble, let’s get to the race, let’s get to qualifying, forget this Sprint business!’”
As Nico Hulkenberg showed in Austria last year, there are chances for slower teams to score points in Sprint Races as there are fewer opportunities for the quicker cars to get past you in the race.
Williams boss Vowles may not heed Hill’s advice to sacrifice the Sprint Race on Saturday but given they still don’t have a spare chassis, they do need to be careful.
The issues Williams currently face are temporary and as the season goes on things will continue to improve.
However, the huge crash damage bill Williams have already accrued can’t be ignored…
The post ‘Stay out of trouble’: Damon Hill admits he ‘wouldn’t want to be’ 44-year-old F1 team principal right now appeared first on F1 Oversteer.