Williams issue Las Vegas GP update after wild absence rumours spread
Williams recorded three big crashes on Sunday in Brazil
Williams has quelled speculation – as per respected F1 correspondent Lawrence Barretto – that they will sit out the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The most recent race weekends in Mexico and Brazil proved costly outings for Williams after producing a combined five crashes, with a final triple-header to come to complete F1 2024, starting with the Las Vegas GP.
Williams will not skip Las Vegas Grand Prix
But, considering the crash damage incurred recently which means hefty repair bills and a strain on spare parts, speculation had emerged in the media that Williams would miss the Las Vegas race due to a lack of spare parts.
However, the team has confirmed to Barretto that this is not the case.
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Barretto wrote: “I’ve just chatted to Williams. They tell me there’s no truth to the chatter they won’t be in Vegas after sustaining massive damage via three crashes in Brazil.
“They say they’ll have both cars ready to race in Nevada.
“That’s an incredible effort from the team and suppliers.”
F1 cost cap explained
? Explained: How the budget cap rules are enforced by the FIA
? What happens if an F1 team is found to be in breach of the FIA budget cap?
That being said, Williams boss James Vowles has admitted that the recent ravaging of spare parts could lead to setup conundrums for the team in Las Vegas.
“There’s no team on the grid that can cope with five major accidents in two race weekends,” Vowles said in his latest ‘Vowles Verdict’ via the Williams app. “Simply the matter of spares we carry are not sufficient to carry that amount of attrition.
“Vegas, I have high hopes for. We were fast there last year, and I’m confident the car will work well in those conditions.
“So we will do our absolute utmost to get two cars to the best specification they can be, with sufficient spares around us to make that happen.
“What that looks like is difficult to predict. We’re still getting the items back from Brazil and determining what we have to do in terms of construct and build in order to give ourselves the best possible scenario.”
Williams sit P9 in the F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship standings going into the Las Vegas Grand Prix, 27 points behind VCARB a position ahead.
Read next: The proposed rule for F1 2026 that would be a ‘killer’ for ‘small teams’