Williams, Racing Point join McLaren in furloughing F1 staff

Williams have become the second Formula 1 team to officially confirm it has put employees into furlough, as drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi also take pay cuts, to reduce team costs during the coronavirus crisis, while Racing Point has also confirmed it has put some staff into furlough.

Last week, McLaren became the first team to furlough a number of staff with all UK-based teams given opportunity to by the national government who will pay 80% of the wages of each employee during the shutdown.

Williams hasn’t disclosed how many staff have been put into furlough, with all employees affected thought to be connected to the race team, but did confirm it will last for two months. Senior management and drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi have taken a 20% pay cut in line with furlough measures.

“Due to the ongoing situation involving COVID-19, ROKiT Williams Racing is temporarily furloughing a number of employees as part of a wider range of cost-cutting measures,” a Williams statement confirmed.

“The furlough period will last until the end of May whilst senior management, and our drivers, have taken a pay cut of 20% effective from 1st April.

“These decisions have not been taken lightly, however our aim is to protect the jobs of our staff at Grove and ensuring they can return to full-time work when the situation allows.”

Racing Point has also confirmed a number of its staff have been put into furlough with its drivers also taking pay cuts.

The 2020 F1 season has been suspended until at least mid-June when provisionally the Canadian Grand Prix is expected to host the opener on June 14, but with great uncertainty around when the F1 season can start due to ongoing coronavirus measures the schedule is set to change.

Earlier today, McLaren CEO Zak Brown warned bigger financial changes are required by F1 bosses as he feared up to four teams could be at risk from folding.