Should indicate ten Formula 1 teams, the best in the world, well prepared for any situation that may arise during a Grand Prix weekend. This is what is expected from high-level sport. Not being able to operate a car is something that harkens back to the seventies, when teams operated on minimal budgets.
The Williams team with a single car in Melbourne raised questions from all sides, with Formula 1 technical director, Pay Symonds, revealing that Vowles confessed: “we had to choose between the spare chassis and some upgrades” – opting for the latter to their own detriment.
In this era, money is abundant in Formula 1, numerous organizations covet a spot on the starting grid, and Formula 1 teams are required to have two “identical” cars for their drivers. If not “identical”, having two cars on the grid is non-negotiable. However, this will not be the case for Williams, as Alex Albon took over Logan Sargeant’s car after the Thai driver destroyed his chassis in a serious accident during FP1.
When the team realized that the Williams car was only good for the scrapyard and they did not have another chassis, Sargeant was rightly sacrificed in favor of his significantly superior teammate, Albon. The American, who is very lucky to be on the Formula 1 grid after a disastrous rookie season last year, should not complain, as he has crashed enough cars for Karma to catch up with him, as happened in Melbourne.
However, the fact that a Formula 1 driver has to miss a Grand Prix because the spare parts stock is empty is simply unforgivable and a colossal failure on Vowles’ part, who talks so much that he voluntarily exposed all the weaknesses and flaws he found in what was once the Greatest Formula 1 Team to everyone.
During the numerous photo opportunities and statements for a rookie TP, Vowles seems to have ignored the fundamental requirement that F1 demands from its team: to have two cars on the grid.
In this specific case, it is negligent that the former Mercedes employee who became team principal insisted on keeping the accident-prone services of Sargeant for 2024 without considering the need for a second chassis.
Symonds showed little sympathy for Williams when he expressed his thoughts on F1TV: “The real story here is the lack of a spare chassis. Throughout my entire career, spanning over 40 years working with teams, even those with limited resources, I never went to the first race without a spare chassis. I am extremely surprised that they don’t have one. Seven years ago, when I was at Williams, production was really struggling, but I assumed they would have resolved these issues by now. They have the financial means to do so. To me, that is the real story. Why was there no spare chassis? Despite this setback, they did what they had to do. After all, this is a team sport. And Alex is certainly maximizing the potential of the current car, which is not bad.”
“With Japan coming up, another circuit where a chassis can be damaged, they now have to transport the damaged chassis back to the UK for repairs, as the third chassis is still weeks away. At the moment, they simply have to make the best of the situation,” Symonds added.
The F1 budget cap was implemented with the specific goal of reducing the gap between the privileged and the less privileged in the sport. In light of this, how did the following situation arise?
Symonds continued: “The budget cap applies to everyone. From what I understand and from talking to people within the teams, Williams does not lack resources. So there seems to be a planning issue, where James mentioned that they had to choose between having a spare chassis or making some upgrades.
“Well, that is an unusual decision to have to make. It should not be necessary. If you want to be a top-level team, you need to have efficient production, as well as high performance,” Symonds added.
In the future, the FIA should consider including in the regulations that each team must have a spare chassis before the start of the races. They should impose a substantial fine on Williams and their team principal Vowles for tarnishing the reputation of F1.
Williams has become a source of embarrassment for our sport. Vowles has already made two serious errors (using a baseball term) during his short tenure as TP:
However, the established powers (FOM and its exclusive club of ten teams) are determined to keep Williams in the paddock, even though they are currently unprepared for F1. Their downfall is devastating for those who remember the time when Sir Frank, Patrick Head, and their team dominated F1.
Meanwhile, legitimate racing teams and organizations with a winning mentality and a history of success (such as Andretti Global) cannot find a way into Formula 1, which can no longer truly be considered the pinnacle of motorsport.
© 2024
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