After a nightmare of a weekend in Brazil, there was an impending threat of Williams missing out on the Las Vegas GP with one of its cars. Team principal James Vowles had indicated that the extent of damage is a lot and they may not have enough spare parts to repair both of its cars before the Las Vegas GP weekend.
However, Will Buxton has debunked these reports. The F1 presenter, who has grown a close association with Williams over the years, posted on X (formerly Twitter),
“Seems James Vowles’ honesty in the knock on effects of the Brazilian GP have been taken to some ridiculous extremes over the past few days. Team won’t miss Vegas. Team will have both cars.”
There were reports that the Grove outfit may not be able to field both cars in Las Vegas, particularly in the practice sessions. With Alex Albon being the senior driver at the team, they could bench Franco Colapinto for the Las Vegas GP practice sessions and maybe even the qualifying and if needed, also the Grand Prix.
This move was mainly due to a shortage of parts of the latest specification. However, Buxton has mentioned that the team is putting in a “huge effort” to get both cars ready, after the multiple crashes over the last triple-header.
Seems James Vowles’ honesty in the knock on effects of the Brazilian GP have been taken to some ridiculous extremes over the past few days.
Team won’t miss Vegas.
Team will have both cars.
It’s been a huge effort after the last triple but they’re ready for the final 3.
— Will Buxton (@wbuxtonofficial) November 15, 2024
The Sao Paulo GP itself saw three crashes and reports say that they could have cost Williams around $2.46 million. This is a huge amount for a small team like them, more so with the cost cap limiting expenditure.
Vowles had been cautiously optimistic about getting both cars repaired before Las Vegas, which, according to Buxton, got extrapolated into these rumors of Williams missing the Las Vegas GP. Although given the Grove outfit’s struggles with their production and parts this season, it wasn’t an outlandish possibility.
How Williams has struggled with parts in 2024
After Albon crashed heavily during Sunday’s qualifying at Interlagos, he had to sit out of the Grand Prix. On the other hand, Colapinto had a major shunt down the main straight, which left his car in a terribly damaged state.
In 2024, Williams have suffered such damages with all of its drivers. In fact, Albon has caused the second-most amount of damage in monetary value, only behind Sergio Perez. Meanwhile, Colapinto has also clocked in a lot of damage in his brief cameo so far this season.
The Argentine’s predecessor, Logan Sargeant, was a major contributor to Williams’ early season damage bills with crashes in Japan and Miami. Sargeant also had to suffer due to Albon’s crash in Australia, as he sat out of the Grand Prix with the team not having an extra chassis.
Williams suffered from the lack of an extra chassis and other parts for multiple weekends in the initial part of the season. This shortage has been mainly down to the lack of efficiency in the team’s production processes — something Vowles is keen on resolving.
