It is customary to say that the sins of fathers fall on their children. Apparently, in the Williams household the blame for the Albons falls on the Sargeants. Allow us to joke, but what is happening inside the Grove team garage is particular to say the least.
Two weeks ago, in Melbourne, the Anglo-Thai destroyed his FW46 in an accident that occurred in the first free practice session. Unfortunately, however, the team did not have a spare chassis available, so it found itself in the position of being able to continue the weekend with just one driver.
Believing that the one with the best chance of trying to secure a place in the points was Alex Albon, he asked Logan Sargeant for a sacrifice, with the American stepping aside to give him his cockpit.
Once in Japan, it was thought that Sargeant would regain possession of his car, but this is not the case. Williams will not have the spare chassis available until the Miami weekend and in the meantime it will be Logan who will have to take to the track with the one damaged by Albon in Albert Park, which has been repaired.
“It's the fixed one,” Sargeant said when asked which car he will race this weekend. “The workload of changing the car would have been too heavy for the mechanics. But the chassis repair went better than expected.”
Alex Albon, Williams Racing FW46
Photo credit: Williams
Team principal James Vowles assured that the American should not notice any difference between the two cars, because there was not a crack on the body and the repair was made on the suspension mountings, with an estimated weight increase of 100 grams .
Williams has not yet spoken to the drivers about the strategy it will follow in Japan if a similar episode were to occur again, but both have been aware since the beginning of the year that there is a problem related to spare parts for the FW46, as Sargeant himself confirmed .
“It's a situation that we had to manage in the first three races. We went to Saudi Arabia with the same situation. And, naturally, it's one of those things where you have to be careful. But you can't be too careful either, because this It's Formula 1.”
“If you're too careful, you won't get anywhere. So you just have to commit, be confident and hope that nothing goes wrong,” he concluded, adding that he understood the “statistical” reasons that in Melbourne had pushed the team to aim for about Albon rather than about him.
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