When Williams team principal James Vowles and his wife Rachel took to their annual New Year's tradition of setting themselves a challenge, the idea was to learn a new skill over the new year. Taking piano lessons, learning a new language; you get the idea.
But in 2020 Vowles set himself a slightly loftier target. Unbeknownst to his wife, the then Mercedes engineer embarked on secret helicopter flying lessons. "It took over a year, because we even went through the next new year's process," Vowles tells Motorsport.com. "Whenever I had time, I would be disappearing for half a day and effectively going to an airfield in High Wycombe and learning how to fly.
