F1 News: Williams Chief Makes Startling Revelation About Mexico And Brazil Crashes

Saajan Jogia | Nov 22, 2024

Nov 21, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Williams Racing driver Alex Albon (23) during practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Williams team principal James Vowles has revealed that the cost to repair both FW46 F1 cars has gone "into the millions," and it is the first time in his career that he has witnessed a sum this huge to get the cars ready for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, courtesy of five crashes over two race weekends in Mexico and Brazil.

Alex Albon crashed during practice in Mexico, followed by contact with VCARB driver Yuki Tsunoda during the Grand Prix. Brazil was the most intense in terms of crashes, where the team faced a double DNF, although it was a DNS for Albon, who failed to start after a severe qualifying crash. The short time between qualifying and the race also played a role since qualifying was postponed to Sunday due to severe weather on Saturday.

Interim driver Franco Colapinto suffered a crash during both the Sao Paulo qualifying and Grand Prix, triggering a red flag and significantly altering the race's outcome. In the aftermath, Williams' mechanics at Grove worked tirelessly to prepare the cars for the Las Vegas round, despite reports of a parts shortage. Speaking to ESPN, Vowles gave an idea of the cost that went into getting both cars race-ready. He said:

"You are into the millions -- less than 10 but more than three.

"It's big numbers when you calculate where we are at the moment.

"The sustained damage we had across Mexico and Brazil, I hadn't experienced anything like that in 25 years of working in the sport -- to have five major accidents [in two races]. It's hard to apportion fault or otherwise to it, that's just motor racing, but five...

"That took out five front wings, five floors, five rear wings, three gearboxes, two engines, two chassis. An amount that you just can't believe."

Vowles acknowledged the near-impossible effort put in by the team to ensure the cars were ready for the season's third-last round. He added:

"To turn that around to have here in Las Vegas two cars completely updated on the right specification -- albeit not with a huge amount of spares behind that -- it's not just a huge effort, it's a gargantuan effort of the whole team pulling together.

"What I'm proud of is, in this moment when you really are down, you're on your knees and kicked in the stomach, the team rose up stronger than it was before and wanted to come here and prove to the world that we are still here and fight for everything we can fight until the end of the championship. It was a proud moment to be leading the team in that moment."

Unfortunately for Williams, more crashes could mean the team would have to sacrifice performance investments in 2025 under the cost cap limit. The team boss explained:

"I don't have exactly what I'd like, because I'd like far more spares than I have.

"But we have sufficient parts for the two cars here and there are a selection of spares around as well -- it's not that the two cars you see here is all the bits we have.

"We're at a point now where, at the last three races of the year, if I produce, for example, five front wings, that's 2025 I'm compromising as a result, so we have to balance between the two.

"If we have accidents like Brazil we are going to be in dire trouble, but hopefully that's a one off."