Williams have opened up about its 2024 car being too heavy. James Vowles admitted that Williams have been giving away 0.45 seconds per lap. However, they hope to remedy this coming into Imola.
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For the 2024 season, Williams had an aggressive development programme. Moving away from the direction of the 2023 car and focusing on the future development left them rushed for time over winter.
The time constraints they faced left them having to stay more conservative with some areas of the car. Vowles explained, “When things get delayed, weight gets added as one of the fixes to get you back on track.”
They also remained on the back foot in terms of development, which we saw in Australia when Logan Sargeant was left without a chassis.
However, coming into Imola, Williams aim to get the weight closer to the minimum requirements. Helping the team make the most of race day.
From 2023 to 2024 Williams managed to remove 14kg of weight from the Chassis. Something team principal James Vowles described as,
“An extraordinary feat. The car this year that we’ve been running is about four and a half tenths a lap slower, every lap, by the fact it’s still overweight.”
Vowles didn’t express exactly how overweight the Williams currently is.
However, 10kg of weight is roughly 0.3 seconds per lap. So the FW46 is roughly 15kg overweight.
Albon remained quiet about the issue
Vowles admitted that he had asked Alex Albon, who has just signed a contract extension, to remain quiet on the weight problem, wanting to focus on the development without the questions from media.
He pointed out that taking 0.45 seconds off the timesheets for Williams explains why Alex has been ‘frustrated.’
Imola is the start of the weight reduction for Williams, Vowles saying it will continue over the “next six races.” until they get close enough to the minimum weight requirement to be happy.
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Williams giving away 0.45 seconds