One of the 'lowest moments' for Williams after three crashes in a day in Sao Paulo but team boss Vowles says they 'will never give up'

Williams Team Principal James Vowles says he is “hurting” after a disastrous Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend for his operation.

Williams suffered three accidents through the course of Sunday’s track activity – featuring both a delayed qualifying and the Sao Paulo Grand Prix itself – at a rain-hit Interlagos, while season-long rivals Alpine hauled themselves up the championship order with a double-podium finish.

Alex Albon was ruled out of the race due to the damage his FW46 sustained in his crash in Q3, while Franco Colapinto hit the wall in qualifying, before crashing out behind the Safety Car during the middle stages of the race.

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Vowles conceded the setback means Williams have a sizeable volume of work across the coming weeks before the next event in Las Vegas.

“The nature of Formula 1 is that you can have some of the most incredible feelings and results, as well as some of the lowest moments that you can feel within a sport,” Vowles said.

“I think it's fair to say this weekend is the second of those two. We've had three incredibly large crashes in just a few hours from one another and have a tremendous amount of work to get ourselves back on top of our spares situation before we go to Las Vegas in just a few weeks’ time.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action as Verstappen stages remarkable comeback in Sao Paulo while Alpine claim double podium

“We must go to every single one of these weekends now and deliver everything possible, whilst making sure we are still looking ahead towards 2025 and 2026 because that, as I've said all along, is where our goal is truly set. It's all about getting the foundations right as we go towards that ‘26 region.

“That doesn't make today any less painful. Far from it, I'm hurting right now. But actually, I wanted to watch that race to the finish to make sure I remember today because this isn't what I want us to be feeling in the future.”

Williams have been locked in a battle for eighth in the championship with Alpine for most of the season, and entered Sunday’s race just one point ahead of their rival after Pierre Gasly scored in Saturday's Sprint to close the deficit.

But second and third for Esteban Ocon and Gasly then jumped Alpine all the way up to sixth in the standings, now 32 points ahead of Williams, with eighth-placed RB a sizeable 27 points in front.

READ MORE: ‘We never gave up and here we are’ – Alpine pair overjoyed by unexpected double podium in Brazil

“Our rivals, Alpine, were quick in the race, no doubt about it,” Vowles said. “They deserved those positions, but they scored a huge bag of points, putting them back up into a very high championship position and demoting us back down to ninth.

“I never give up until it's time to give up and that won't be until we're in Abu Dhabi and the chequered flag has dropped. We have two fast drivers, and we have a fast car underneath us.”