The hidden cost cap rules hindering Williams' F1 progress

By:

Jake Boxall-Legge

Jun 20, 2023, 12:00 PM

Since taking charge at Williams, James Vowles has taken time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Grove operation. But among the measures he wants to take to lift the team off the back, a subset of the cost cap rules will prove problematic to overcome

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After years of success, championship victories, and occupying the highest echelons on the Formula 1 grid, the two declines that Williams has faced over the past two decades have been stark.

The first followed its divorce from BMW, as the team lurched from customer engine deal to engine deal over the next 10 years to vacillate between the upper and lower midfield. Its brief renaissance in 2014 was underpinned by a strong car design and an engine deal with Mercedes, which had dominated the early phases of the turbo-hybrid era.

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Jake Boxall-Legge

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Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.