The 2024 campaign was a forgettable one for Williams, finishing a disappointing ninth in the F1 standings. However, a more alarming statistic has come to light from last year that would also have a bearing on the team’s chances in 2025.
Instead of working on the pace and development of the FW46, the team had to spend upward of $9 million in repair bills in 2024. With Carlos Sainz‘s arrival, the team would expect things to be better. But then, the Spanish racing ace was also one of the biggest culprits in the Destructors’ standings in 2024.
The former Ferrari driver accounted for almost $3.1 million in damages for the Maranello-based team, stated F1 YouTuber and content creator, Aldas. Sainz was ranked P5 in the damages incurred list — just two places below the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto. This would not come across as comforting for Williams team principal James Vowles.
Sparks fly on the streets of Baku!
This moment between Sainz and Perez effectively ended the race, and cost both the chance of a podium!#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/iR6UTynvpv
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 15, 2024
Sainz’s three million dollar repair bill to Ferrari can largely be attributed to incidents during two race weekends last season. His first big shunt came at the Azerbaijan GP, when he made contact with Sergio Perez on the very last lap of the race, ruining his SF-24 and a well-deserved shot at the podium.
Full footage of Carlos Sainz's crash in Q2!#F1 #Formula1 #BrazilGPpic.twitter.com/e71ofxBbnY
— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__) November 3, 2024
Sainz also had two crashes on a wet Interlagos track during the Brazilian GP in November. His crash in Q2 had led to the Spaniard starting the race from the pit-lane. And, after the midway point in the Grand Prix, Sainz had spun out under braking and slid into a barrier, ending his race.
Williams, meanwhile, suffered throughout 2024 with many big shunts.
Why did Williams have such a high repair bill in 2024?
All three Williams drivers racked up at least a million dollars in damages. The team replaced Logan Sargeant with Colapinto for the remaining nine races of the season after the American’s huge crash at the Dutch GP.
Meanwhile, Albon had also suffered two huge shunts in Australia and Brazil. Colapinto crashed out of the São Paulo GP.
What’s more concerning is that it wasn’t just bad luck that led to the shunts. The FW46 wasn’t the easiest of cars to drive. Albon himself hinted last week that the car’s composition led to many of the crashes.
“If you look, part of the problem is with the weight. We had certain parts that were made of metal instead of carbon. That caused other parts of the car to break down. Because of this, we actually kept hurting ourselves,” Albon had said.
The British driver’s words indicate that the team has identified the areas in the car that they need to work on to make it faster as well as more reliable. Hopefully that would lead to lesser repair bills and better performances by their drivers in the upcoming season.
