James Vowles, team principal of Atlassian Williams F1 Team, took over the struggling team more than three years ago and has set a path to transform it into a winner by 2030. He compares running an F1 team to running a company, noting the two-week pulse check on performance and the 70 million people judging results each Monday. He emphasizes that work done three years ago drives today’s results, warning against short-term thinking.

Vowles says his success depends on culture: brutal honesty, no politics, and no 'yes' people. He encourages risk-taking and learning from failure, stating he will stand by his team. Despite massive data—55,000 channels logged live from each car—he insists the driver remains the most powerful sensor, offering insights data cannot capture.

The interview is available on WSJ.com. Alan Murray, president of the WSJ Leadership Institute, oversees CEO Brief, written with Erle Norton and Lila Mac Lellan.