Williams F1 uncertain ahead of Las Vegas Grand Prix after several huge crashes

Crash damage costs have been through the roof for Williams this year and have also led to a dire spare parts situation after several more shunts in the last few weeks

James Vowles has admitted it is "unsustainable" for his Williams team to keep suffering major crashes.

Crash damage is something all Formula 1 teams have to account for, both logistically and financially. After all, there is an annual budget cap in place and higher-than-expected repair bills over the course of a campaign can cause problems on that front.

This year, "higher-than-expected" barely does Williams' situation justice. They have been forced to spend far more time and money on car repairs than any of their competitors in 2024 and the last couple of weeks have been particularly expensive.

Both drivers have suffered no fewer than five shunts between them across the last two race weekends. Alex Albon crashed in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix before he was tagged by another car in the race - and his luck did not improve a week later at Interlagos.

In treacherous conditions, Albon crashed again in a rare Sunday morning qualifying session at the Brazilian Grand Prix, causing so much damage that the team could not repair it in time for the race. Team-mate Franco Colapinto's car was prepared in time, after his own qualifying shunt, but he crashed out as the rain intensified during the race shortly after a pit-stop.

Williams are running short of some spare parts as a result of the need for constant replacement over the last few weeks. And team principal Vowles has admitted his squad might not be able to race at the Las Vegas Grand Prix with two cars running on the latest spec.

He said: "There is no team on the grid that can cope with five major accidents in two race weekends. 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 am 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 are 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 did not score any points in Las Vegas in 2023 but Albon showed strong pace on the way to a 12th-placed finish. Logan Sargeant finished 16th and his replacement, Franco Colapinto, will race on the Vegas strip for the first time.

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