Formula 1 News: FIA turns down Williams' budget cap request

(GMM) F1’s governing body has turned down a plea from the Williams team to increase a team’s budget if they hire wanker ride-buyers who crash a lot.

Williams, the James Vowles-led outfit has suffered a perhaps unprecedented string of big crashes recently, not only depleting the spare parts store but also endangering the budget cap spending limit.

“Williams quite simply had more than twice as much damage as the others,” former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde told the DRS De Race Show podcast.

Vowles admits: “It’s a distraction away from ’25, there’s no doubt about it.”

He says the three big crashes at Interlagos alone cost over $5 million, with Franco Colapinto’s Las Vegas accident adding another $2m to the bill.

Franco Colapinto gestures in frustration after wadding up his Williams in Q2 qualifying for the 2024 Las Vegas GP

If simply repairing all the damage tips Williams over the cap, teams can ‘borrow’ from the 2025 budget allocation – but then double the borrowed amount must be accounted for on the bottom line.

“It will be very, very difficult,” said Vowles when asked if Williams will be able to stick to the 2024 cap. “It’s hard to save as much as we need to somewhere else in the budget until the end of December.”

Auto Motor und Sport claims Vowles asked the FIA for a $1 million dispensation for any team after the tenth major crash of a season. The request was turned down.