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Tag: WilliamsF1Team

  • 2024 Season Review – Williams

    A Season Full of Mistakes

    It was a difficult season for Williams, they finished lower in the championship and scored less points last season than they did in 2023. Unfortunately for the team the tone was set early on when Albon destroyed his chassis in Practice 1 in Australia. The team had no spare and were forced to make the decision to take Logan Sargeants chassis and gave it to Albon.

    In financial terms, it was a costly season for Williams, all three drivers blighted at some point with some heavy accidents, and some occurred more than once in the same weekend. In the cost cap era and a team with a much smaller budget they cannot afford to keep wasting their budget on car repairs. I don’t know if the car was particularly hard to drive last season, but they could really do with a cleaner 2025.

    The Drivers

    As for the drivers, we saw Logan Sargeant replaced from the Italian Grand Prix onwards. I think you could say this is fair from Williams, having never beaten his teammate in qualifying and only scoring 1 point, his time was up. He was given a season and a half, which I think is a decent amount of time, given how long the seasons are these days. Formula One is a result driven sport and the step up, sometimes is a step to far for some. I would be surprised if we saw Sargeant in an F1 car ever again.

    Franco Colapinto was brought in from the Italian Grand Prix, becoming the first Argentine F1 driver since 2001. Initially he impressed, scoring points in Baku and Austin, however after that he started to struggle. He had a torrid time in Brazil having a heavy crash in qualifying and then the following weekend in Las Vegas he had another heavy crash. He would then retire from the remaining 2 races. For 2025 he is off to Alpine to be their reserve driver for the season, with eyes on a race seat for 2026.

    Albon, usually a competent consistent driver had his struggles last season. Maybe his confidence in the car was shaken by that crash in Australia. He did however show glimpses of his normal self with some decent qualifying performances that he couldn’t turn into more points finishes. He remains at the team for 2025 and will have a tougher competitor next to him in the other car so it will be good to see how he handles that additional pressure.

    The Team

    Since James Vowles took over, Williams have been on a slow trajectory up the grid. There seems to have been a decent amount of stability within the team, and they have, until 2024, improved year on year. The problem Williams have is the midfield is so tightly packed, and the front 4 teams are so reliable, it is hard for them to score regular points and then when they have a bad weekend it can be a double whammy. Look at what happened in Brazil for example, Alpine were in the right place at the right time to get a double podium, that enabled them to leapfrog several teams in the championship, whilst Williams came away with nothing.

    For 2025..

    Looking forward to this season, Williams should be looking to push themselves back up the grid, they have to good quick drivers now so there is no excuse for only having the one driver scoring the points. The only issue I have with the lineup is I think Sainz always has a mistake in him lurking below the surface. He’s had some hefty crashes in a Ferrari, but these can be more costly to a team like Williams. I do have a feeling that they will have one eye on 2026, but for me they can’t afford to slip down the grid any further this season.

    2024 Season Rating 3/10

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  • Colapinto to Alpine

    The Background

    Rumours circulated for a while that Franco Colapinto was going to land himself a last-minute grid slot for the 2025 season. He impressed in his short stint at Williams when he replaced Logan Sargeant, this despite smashing the car to bits on several occasions. It was announced Thursday 9th January that he would be leaving Williams and joining Alpine, not for a race seat however but as reserve driver.

    It might seem like a strange decision to go from Williams’ reserve driver to Alpine’s reserve driver, however I think there is more at play here. Let me explain.

    Firstly, Alpine appointed Flavio Briatore as “Executive Advisor of the Formula One Team”. Basically, he is the Team Principle in all but name. Briatore has been out of F1 since the crash gate scandal, he returned in 2024 to the team where he was Team Principle for many years. He runs a tight ship, doesn’t take any crap from anyone and is not afraid to wield the sword if needs be. If people think Helmut Marko is ruthless, Briatore eats him for breakfast.

    Secondly, Alpine have made a gamble this season by making Jack Doohan their second driver. Whilst Jack has impressed in F2, that does not mean he will be able to cut it in F1. We only need to look at Nicholas Latifi and Logan Sargeant, who both did reasonably well in F2 but then really struggled in F1. Alpine also have Pierre Gasly in the other seat, it’s a big year for Gasly, I will explain more in a minute, but he is up against an Alpine junior driver who will almost very much be the “favoured son”.

    The Future

    What I think has been done here is a shrewd move by Briatore and I think that Colapinto has signed with a guaranteed race seat for 2026. Why else move? You must imagine that from Williams’ point of view it is highly unlikely that in 2026 they will not have Albon or Sainz driving their cars. So, If my theory is correct, who loses their seat at Alpine? Colapinto is also now in a great spot for this season, should Doohan not meet expectations and struggle significantly, we could well see Colapinto in that race seat after the summer break. This is also why I think this is a massive yea for Gasly. If Doohan outperforms him, Gasly could well find himself without a seat for 2026. Personally, I think Briatore is planning on a Colapinto/ Doohan lineup for 2026. Watch this space and let’s see how the season pans out.

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