Williams has made the massive call to give Alex Albon their remaining chassis for the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne.In FP1, Albon had a big crash. He lost the car over the turn 6 kerb, ended up having a snap of oversteer and hit the wall hard at turn 7. There appeared to be quite a lot of damage immediately.
Williams confirmed quite quickly that they needed to assess the damage on Albon’s car and missed FP2. It turned out the chassis was damaged beyond repair.
Due to the very tight nature in getting the FW46, spare parts have been at a premium for the Grove-based squad. They do not have a spare chassis with them in Melbourne, and they cannot fly one in at this late stage from the other side of the world.
It left Team Principal James Vowles with an agonising decision of choosing between Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant for Saturday and Sunday with their one healthy chassis and car remaining. The Brit has chosen Albon.
Although Albon has clearly been the better driver since Sargeant became his teammate, outqualifying him at every single race and outscoring the Floridian 27-1 last year, this is a decision that is surely going to hurt the American’s confidence.
James Vowles, Team Principal: “We are hugely disappointed that the damage sustained to the chassis has meant we need to withdraw it from the weekend. It’s unacceptable in modern day Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis, but it is a reflection of how behind we were in the winter period and an illustration of why we need to go through significant change in order to get ourselves in a better position for the future. As a result, we have had some very difficult decisions to make this afternoon.While Logan should not have to suffer from a mistake that he did not make, every race counts when the midfield is tighter than ever, so we have made the call based on our best potential to score points this weekend. This decision was not made lightly, and we cannot thank Logan enough for his graceful acceptance, demonstrating his dedication to the team; he is a true team player. This will prove a tough weekend for Williams, and this situation is not one that we will put ourselves in again.”
Alex Albon: “I have to be totally honest and say that no driver would want to give up his seat. I would never want anything like this to happen. Logan has always been a consummate professional and a team player from day one, and this won’t be an easy one for him to take. At this point though, I cannot dwell on the situation and my only job now is to maximise our potential this weekend and work with the whole team to make sure we do the best job possible.”
Logan Sargeant: “This is the hardest moment I can remember in my career and it’s absolutely not easy. I am however completely here for the team and will continue to contribute in any way that I can this weekend to maximise what we can do.”
