‘Teams aren’t built to take six major crashes’ – James Vowles reveals crucial impact of recent Williams incidents

James Vowles has confirmed that Williams have been forced to eat into their budget for 2025 to recover from a series of incidents that have overshadowed their recent race weekends, but praised the team’s “incredible” morale during the tough run.

The Grove outfit suffered one of their lowest rounds in a rain-soaked Sao Paulo when they endured three crashes in a single day – Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto both crashed out in the delayed qualifying session.

While Albon’s car was too damaged to start the race, the Argentinean made it through the opening stint before hitting the barrier behind the Safety Car in tricky conditions, leaving the team with a mammoth repair job before the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The British-Thai driver had also previously collided with Ollie Bearman and Yuki Tsunoda in Mexico, while Colapinto’s massive 50G crash during Q2 in Vegas brought the team to 15 total incidents across the season, with six of those occurring in the last three races.

2024 Las Vegas GP Qualifying: Despair for Williams as Colapinto crashes out of Q2

Speaking ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, the Team Principal said: “There’s no doubt about it – I think teams aren’t built to take what is six major crashes. Generally speaking, we’ll hold a stock of parts that’s about four, maybe five of each component.

"That’s about where you want to be, so it doesn’t take long to figure out that once you crash five or six of them, you’re in trouble.

“[A] huge effort by both the trackside team and those in the factory. I’ve had people that are part-time or even on shift work just asking what more they can do. That’s an incredible feeling when you’re part of an organisation that goes above and beyond to make sure we have two race cars on the grid every week.

“It’s a distraction away from ‘25, there’s no doubt about it. Not so much from ‘26 but you have to pour your effort into just making sure you’re here on track fighting with your competitors around you.”

James Vowles, Team Principal of Williams attends the press conference for the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on November 29, 2024 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Bryn Lennon - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images) — Vowles appeared determined for Williams to bounce back in Qatar

The onerous run of form has meant that Williams have only scored one point since their impressive performance in Baku, leaving them resigned to P9 in the constructors’ standings with two races of the season to go.

However, there have still been glimmers of potential in their pace, leading the Team Principal to confirm that he has not instructed his drivers to change their approach other than adopting more caution in practice sessions.

“No one here would have accounted – I hope, anyway – for this amount of attrition this late on in the season,” Vowles explained. “The implication is you have to take a little bit away from next year’s cost cap – that’s the frustration behind it.

“What we’re talking about is a few hundreds of thousands that I wish we weren’t spending this year that we could spend next year.”