For all the attention surrounding Franco Colapinto, there is arguably a more pressing issue at Williams – a components shortage. Following a series of big crashes in recent weeks, Williams are running out of spare parts. Team principal James Vowles has detailed the severity of the situation.
Williams on a knife-edge to end the season
Despite sitting 9th in the standings, Williams have generated plenty of headlines this season.
The team’s problems began in pre-season, when James Vowles admitted they were at risk of being late to Bahrain testing.
Although Williams eventually arrived to Bahrain in time, they were still in a sub-optimal position.
Due to James Vowles’ decision to address their out-dated design and manufacturing process, their production was relatively limited over the winter.
This meant they began their 2024 campaign with limited spare parts – which is partly why Logan Sargeant’s early crashes were so costly for the team.
Since then, Williams have racked up more damage than any other team – and by quite some distance.
James Vowles gives his verdict on the situation
Reflecting on a catastrophic Brazilian GP, the Williams boss has been direct about the situation:
“There’s no team on the grid that can cope with five major accidents in two race weekends.
“Simply put, the amount of spares that we carry are not sufficient to carry that amount of attrition.
“I have high hopes for [Las Vegas], we were fast there last year, and I’m confident we have a car that can work well in those conditions.
“We are going to do our absolute utmost to get two cars to the best specification that they can be, with sufficient spares around us to make that happen.
“What that looks like is difficult to predict at the moment.
“We’re still getting the items back from Brazil and determining what we have to do in terms of constructing and building in order to get ourselves in the best place possible.”
It remains to be seen how Williams navigate the final three rounds of the season.
Even putting aside the practical issue of producing more parts, there are also budget cap concerns.
Although teams anticipate crash damages when predicting their annual spending, the Grove-based team have experienced more incidents than they could have ever accounted for.
Estimates of their damage costs in 2024 suggest almost $10 million could have been spent on repairs alone.
For a team whose development has already been restricted by early-season incidents, the final rounds of this year’s campaign could be difficult to navigate.
