James Vowles has revealed that there is a deal in place which would allow Franco Colapinto to return to Williams in the future.

It sounds somewhat reminiscent of the deal in place with Jenson Button when he raced with the Grove outfit. Having made a shock debut with the British team in 2000, he then moved to Benetton for 2001 and again to BAR in 2003, though all the while there was a contract in place that would allow Williams to reclaim him if needed. On the day of his announcement as a BAR driver, the Briton, who went on to win the title in 2009 told Pitpass editor Chris Balfe that he could not talk about the Williams deal because part of the contract was that he was forbidden to talk about it.

As it happened, whatever the terms of the deal he never returned to Grove.

Speaking at the unveiling of the team's 2025 contender, team boss Vowles admitted that while Colapinto has signed to Alpine, on a "multi-year" deal, there is a written agreement that he might return to Grove in the future.

"There's a period of time whereby I hope he is racing for Alpine," said Vowles. "The reason why we did this is that I wanted him to be racing in 2025 and or 2026," he added, there basically having been no room at the Grove outfit which had signed Carlos Sainz to partner Alex Albon.

"The best chance he has is with Alpine," he continued, "that's why he's there. And I don't mean that to the detriment of Jack (Doohan). I hope Jack has a successful time.

"But ultimately, Franco is my driver that I want back in that car. After a period of time, he'll return to Williams.

"That period of time is not a line set in stone where I can look you in the eye and say it. But I can say he'll be back to Williams at some point. He is with Alpine and he's an Alpine driver for a number of years. Their choice, fundamentally, will arrange what they want to choose from that. After that point, I hope he comes back to Williams and we'll see where we end up."

Following a strong start to his time with Williams, having been drafted in for the final races of the season following Logan Sargeant's season, Colapinto was involved in a number of incidents, nonetheless there was no doubting his talent.

In terms of an embarrassment of riches, as far as drivers are concerned, Vowles insists that the FW47 shows the progress the team has made over the last 12 months. It predecessor, was not only late on making its debut but was clearly overweight, the team having made an eleventh hour change in terms of its design philosophy.

"First of all, weight, the car will be on the weight limit," said Vowles. "Second of all, on time," he added. "We have demonstrated to the world that we can build a car to the correct standard and make it leave the garage within one minute, so that's two very different changes from where we were last year.

"This car was built last night at 4am," he revealed. "All the components came together, and we sent that car out just a few hours after that. That's leading edge that most organisations wouldn't let you into their world to show, but it's a demonstration of where we come from and that we mean business and where we're going to.

"The quality of the fit, the quality of the build, the quality of the product is a huge step upwards," he continued, "and the packaging is another huge step upwards, and we haven't even got into aerodynamics and suspension and performance yet. Every area I look at in the car is just a world of difference for me from where we were before."

All of which is a world away from when the Briton joined the team from Mercedes, subsequently revealing that the Grove outfit was a couple of decades behind in terms of its ageing infrastructure.

"We've been spending the last few years, and carrying on in 2025, just digging down to foundations and making a lot of changes," he said. "Just putting some stats around it, we've grown from about 700 to over 1,050, and we still have more hires incoming.

"We have some excellent names that have joined us that are by my side now that we didn't have before. And, we have, I think, class-leading drivers that are leaders that are able to help and support me in this journey.

"That will always give you confidence because you don't feel as though you are a single point of failure anymore, but rather you have an organisation and a structure around you that has the depth necessary to perform on a world stage."

While the day's focus is on the coming season, Vowles admits that he and the team's owners Dorilton Capital are looking further ahead.

"The main thing is this," he said. "You're going to see us progress forward. But what I've always said is we've put our focus into '26, '27 and '28. We're developing elements that come online as a result of that. We have this year huge infrastructure changes that come online. To do that, it'll take a little bit more time. But that's the investment we're doing. But as I said, watch our pathway. It should be a good one this year."