Russell and Latifi take pay cuts, Williams furlough staff

Williams drivers George Russell and Nicolas Latifi have taken 20% pay cuts while staff have been placed on furlough as the cost of the current lockdown hits another of Formula 1's teams.

Last week, McLaren drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, along with members of senior management that included CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andreas Seidl all took pay cuts, while the majority of staff were placed on furlough.

Williams has now followed suit, as was expected to be the case, to ensure the team can survive beyond when the current coronavirus crisis finally ends.

A Williams statement read: “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.

“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.”

Over the coming days, it is fully anticipated the other five UK-based teams in Mercedes, Red Bull, Racing Point, Haas and Renault will also furlough staff and bring in pay cuts.

All F1 teams are currently on a three-week factory shutdown, but again, due to their being no end in sight to the current situation, this is expected to continue for as long as is required.

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