F1 | Williams: Sargeant skips qualifying and now there’s a spare parts alarm

Logan Sargeant will not compete in qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix. The American driver was involved in a violent accident in the fifteenth minute of the third free practice session, which began in wet conditions.

Sargeant lost control of the car exiting turn 4, after putting the wheels on the right side on the grass. The impact, very violent, also started a fire on the rear of the car, which was put out by the service personnel after the activation of the red flag.

The extensive damage to the car was immediately evident, and the first analysis carried out by Williams staff when the car was brought back to the pits confirmed the fears. The team principal, James Vowles, shook his head without masking his disappointment at what had happened. “This accident came at the worst possible time,” he confirmed. “We have just introduced a lot of new parts to the cars and we have seen what happened to them. We do not have large stocks of spare parts, but that is not the only problem.”

The spare set provided by Williams does not allow the team to sustain two accidents, there is the risk that if there were to be problems with Albon’s single-seater in qualifying, the specification of the spare parts available would be different (the team would be forced to recover components from the specification prior to the update), forcing the driver to start the race from the pit lane, as established by the regulation.

“From the moment we enter parc fermé conditions we need to be sure we have spares for the second car,” Vowles confirmed, “so without a definitive estimate of the damage we are not sure we can intervene on Logan’s car. There are also questions about the power unit, which at first glance seems to be in very poor condition.”

The only certainty is that the team has a spare chassis. “The damage is serious,” Vowles admitted, “and this could also require the replacement of the body. We are analyzing carefully, but this scenario is not excluded.”

“As for the causes of the accident, I think everyone can analyse and draw their own conclusions,” concluded the team principal, “from what I see…if you don’t realise you’ve put two wheels on the grass, that’s what happens.”