Coulthard: Williams' Season a 'Write-Off' After Poor Start

David Coulthard, former Formula 1 driver, has delivered a scathing assessment of Williams' 2025 campaign, calling it effectively a 'write-off' after just 11 points in the opening 11 rounds. This is a far cry from expectations after their fifth-place finish in last year's constructors' championship.

Williams deliberately avoided major upgrades in 2025 to focus on the new power unit regulations, but the gamble has backfired, leaving them mired at the back of the grid. The season started disastrously when they missed the pre-season shakedown test in Barcelona, the only team absent. The car that finally appeared was overweight and lacked performance.

Delays in information from external suppliers are cited as the root cause. James Vowles, the team principal, has been regularly apologizing to Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, both of whom are growing increasingly frustrated.

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Coulthard, a former Williams driver, did not hold back. "Yeah, look, they got it wrong," he said on the Up to Speed podcast. "But the mitigating circumstance, as we learn more, is that they got a lot of the information on what they were dealing with from their outside suppliers late, which meant they then had to adjust internally what they were building, and it came out late and heavy. And late and heavy is not a good thing; they missed the first test."

Despite the despair, Coulthard believes a comeback will be sweet, given the talent of their drivers. However, for this season, "It will be a bit of a write-off" in terms of achieving fifth again. He doubts they'll find a major upgrade, especially with the summer break limiting development.

"They might get one more upgrade this year, but otherwise all the focus will be on the year ahead," Coulthard concluded. This is a harsh reality check for Williams, who hoped the new regulations would propel them up the order.