Williams has lured Alpine's Pat Fry to Grove. His appointment was confirmed minutes after the French squad revealed team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane will leave after this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
These departures follow that of the outspoken Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi, who ultimately presided over the F1 team, being moved aside to work on “special projects”.
This significant turnover reflects a turbulent “conversion phase”, according to Vowles, who has been at the helm of Williams since February.
He said: “I'm not inside, but they're clearly in a lot of pain and trouble and through a conversion phase.
“The bit I can really say is that Pat's not a part of that change that they're going through. Pat's decision [to join Williams] was made many, many months ago.
“If you go look at what was happening in the media with Alpine around that time, you might even be able to pinpoint when it was happening.”
Vowles first approached Fry in January, stating that “he was the one I really wanted to be within Williams”, but he was content to stay at Alpine initially.
Source: Autosport