Up to and including the 2024 Williams FW46 race car, the headlining Excel spreadsheet was crucial for building cars and managing parts. Vowles didn’t pull his punches when talking about the old system. “The Excel list was a joke,” blasted the new Williams team principal. “Impossible to navigate and impossible to update.”
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Formula 1 management shocked team used Excel for 20,000-part inventory, now replacing 'impossible to navigate' sheet
F1 racing teams are allowed a budget of $135 million per season (not including driver pay). Vowles and Fry have decided to use more than they would like from that budget to bring Williams up to date, which may consist of a few million for banishing Excel’s use as the container for the firm’s workbook and parts list. “It’s an opportunity that’s not small,” said Vowles. “It’s millions of pounds of cost cap money. And it’s tenths of performance in just having processes, structure, and system.”
