Coming off a wretched weekend in Brazil, Williams were expecting a better outing in Las Vegas. However, things haven’t changed a shade for the Grove outfit with Alex Albon’s Q1 exit and Franco Colapinto’s massive shunt in Q2. Colapinto’s crash in the final seconds of Q2 generated a massive force of 50G, which put his health under the scanner.
Williams have released a statement on Twitter (now X), highlighting the severity of the 21-year-old’s crash in Las Vegas. A part of the statement read:
“An impact of this magnitude is obviously significant and severe and he will need to be evaluated again tomorrow before we will know whether he is clear to race. Franco’s health is all that matters and we are glad he is otherwise okay.”
Team statement. pic.twitter.com/LUCTgQ1cf0
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) November 23, 2024
It could be another likely withdrawal for a second consecutive race for Williams if Colapinto is not fit to race on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Albon also had to withdraw his car from the Sao Paulo GP three weeks ago when he suffered a massive crash with significant damage to his chassis.
If Colapinto cannot race in Las Vegas, it would make it difficult for Williams to score points as Albon starts in the bottom five. While there is little hope of the Grove outfit catching up to the likes of Haas, RB, and Alpine [who all have 40+ points currently], they would like to give it their all to try and improve their position this season.
The Argentine driver’s crash also added salt to their wounds from Brazil where they already suffered three major crashes. As a result, it was also a huge financial blow to a cash-strapped team like Williams.
Williams’ financial woes due to crashes in 2024
The last two races in Mexico and Brazil have added a lot of damage bills for Williams, with the Brazil crashes amounting up to $2.46 million as per some reports. James Vowles also confirmed recently that the total bill for the crashes in the last two race weekends is around a whopping $3 million.
That is a considerable sum of money for a small side like Williams, who have been wise with every penny they spend towards developing their car and team to make a step up the F1 pecking order. Colapinto’s crash will further add to these financial woes, with the crash damage for the 2024 season nearing $10 million per the unofficial Destructors’ championship data.
The recovery operation continues and there’s also lots of debris on track for the marshals to clear up#F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/CRnhNGaqSJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 23, 2024
As for Colapinto, while he has been quite spectacular with his points-scoring performances in his short stint in F1, these crashes also reflect on him poorly. It could affect the teams’ perception of the Argentine driver after wanting to sign him for a full-time seat for next year.
