James Vowles surprised by key difference between FW14B and modern F1 cars at Goodwood

Williams Formula 1 team principal James Vowles had the privilege of getting behind the wheel of the historic FW14B at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed. While reflecting on what he described as a “dream day,” he pointed to one particular difference between modern F1 cars and the historic machinery he has been manning at the event.

“It’s brilliant. What I love about this is the heritage team have done such a good job,” Vowles explained after completing the famous hillclimb in Nigel Mansell’s 1992 championship-winning car. “This, this is all original. This is really Nigel’s car that he won the championship with in 1992.

“So everything is one of one in this one, so I can assure you what goes through your mind is ‘look after it all the time’. But it’s a beast, it just urges you to go faster and faster, and I… A dream day for me, starting from this morning, all the way to this evening, and that’s what Goodwood provides.”

“I mean, Gabby’s doing so well,” Vowles added when asked about Sauber F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto’s interest in the car. “He and I had a chat before, and this car’s iconic. This is a representation of most people’s childhood, and for him to have the opportunity, he called me before and said, ‘Can I just have a look at it?’

“I was like, ‘even better – come in and have a look’. And you realise very quickly just how good we have it these days.”

The Williams team chief revealed one key difference that he noticed in the 1992 car compared to the modern race cars he’s driven.

James Vowles, Williams

Photo by: Clive Rose / Getty Images

“So, for example, what I was showing him is in the pedal box – I can’t get my feet in all in at the same time, and nor can he, just ’cause everything’s just really compact and made to be a racing car on the edge.”

The FW14B, which secured both the drivers’ title with Mansell and the constructors’ title in 1992, was designed by Adrian Newey and features a 3.5-litre V10 engine producing approximately 750 horsepower. 

The car won 10 out of the 16 races in the 1992 season, with Mansell setting the record at the time with nine of those victories, and his team-mate Riccardo Patrese winning one.