Williams team principal James Vowles has explained why they did not have a spare car available this weekend, which has led to Logan Sargeant missing the race.
Sargeant’s team mate Alexander Albon crashed heavily during the first practice session. That left Williams with only one chassis for the remainder of the weekend as Albon’s FW46 cannot be repaired at the track and the team have no spare car.“The damage was extensive,” said Vowles in a video produced by the team. “The gearbox is split in two, the power unit has significant damage to it and the chassis was damaged beyond repair at the track on the front-right corner.
“The main thing for me is that Alex is okay after that incident. It was a huge accident, you will have seen on TV just the amount of debris spread across the track and always in those circumstances, the driver’s health comes first.”
“As a result of the work that took place across the winter, we stressed the organisation to the absolute limits,” he said. “We pushed everything as far as it could do and what it meant as a result of that is off the back end of being very late on some of the production, the spare chassis [completion date] starts to move backwards.
“No team plans to come to an event without a spare chassis. In doing so you create risk. In the absolute best case, it’s uncomfortable. In the worst case, one of the cars is not racing and that’s the situation we face today.
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“We have to ensure that we never, ever put ourselves in that situation again going forward in the future. We are here to go racing and to only have one car here on Saturday and Sunday simply isn’t what we’re built to do.”
“I’ve made the decision for Logan not to be racing this weekend and for Alex to take the chassis and continue on behalf of Williams Racing on Saturday and Sunday. It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve made so far whilst here in this organisation.
“The midfield is so incredibly tight that a point or two or more may make the difference at the end of the season between being 10th or being sixth. The spread of our cars at the moment is milliseconds, and as much as it pains me to see a driver that, through no fault of their own, won’t be racing on Sunday, I have to prioritise the team above all else.
“Logan has been tremendous. He’s here to support the team in this regard. He’s clearly very much hurting as a result of this decision, but equally strong in as much as he knows the team, above all else, is the priority. What I can say is this: the chassis, we’re back in the UK as quick as we can possibly make it and will be repaired such that we’re able to race again in Japan with two cars.”
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Jere (@jerejj)
22nd March 2024, 16:53
While I wholly understand the argument behind this questionable decision, the outcome is still unfair to Logan as an innocent party & even worse, if Alex happens to make another costly mistake in any remaining session.
Asd
22nd March 2024, 20:19
What’s really unfair is that they have to drive a Williams and not a RedBull. Not getting to drive that crap car for a race is nothing. Logan can enjoy the Australian sun, he’s missing out on nothing.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
23rd March 2024, 18:43
It is a team sport, and Logan hasn’t performed anywhere near Albon’s standard. If they were equally bring in results, I would say the decision would be questionable. The only questionable decision in my mind is why Williams have kept Sargeant this year at all. I assume that he must be bringing in much needed funding. Albon is the real deal, and Williams needs another driver to challenge him, at the very least.
SteveP
22nd March 2024, 17:39
Milliseconds difference, and yet he prioritises the driver that crashed; and from the track limits breach stats last season that driver seems to gain the little advantage he has from those breaches, perhaps.
I’m not understanding the logic.
hobo (@hobo)
22nd March 2024, 18:26
1200 milliseconds is still milliseconds.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
22nd March 2024, 21:32
Some people will overdefend sargeant for reasons I will never understand. This is indeed the moment where a driver much faster than the other makes a big difference, given how bunched up most of the field is.
someone or something
22nd March 2024, 20:37
The scientific term for statements like this, I believe, is: “lie”.
Alternatively, what @hobo said.
R7
24th March 2024, 14:59
Have you forgotten how many time Sargeant has crashed?
Jack
22nd March 2024, 18:24
James has opened a can of worms here and damaged his reputation in my opinion. He’s basically said Logan has no chance of points so no point in him driving.
Hugely embarrassing for the team to not have spares and clearly shows the team is not prepared for the year let alone F1.
If Alex finishes the race and gets zero points then was all this really necessary James?
SaMa (@f1g33k)
22nd March 2024, 18:46
If anything, he is being pragmatic. You have to always maximise yours chances irrespective of the outcome.
No one has the benefit of hindsight or else it wouldn’t be called that. It is absolutely necessary to have Albon in the seat irrespective of where he finishes or even if he doesn’t.
Logan hasn’t beaten Albon yet in quali or in races where both have finished. His average qualifying and finishing position is right at the back and there is a huge probability of him finishing there.
It would be a surprise if Logan is not already aware that he is on borrowed time and this F1 season is a bonus for him.
Peter
22nd March 2024, 18:51
What he’s saying is that Albon is a much better bet to get points than Sargent. Albon’s 27:1 points margin in 2023, and 100% out-qualifying record, backs up Vowles’ decision.
Whether or not Albon ends up scoring points, Vowles has given his team the best chance of doing so.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
22nd March 2024, 20:34
a team principal with no principles. Cut your own drivers at the knees for a beggars chance at 1 point. Sick. This is not how y ou run a team or how you accumulate respect as a leader. Not only does Sargent realize that his seat is pointless, but Albon now knows how little respect Vowels has for his drivers.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
22nd March 2024, 21:35
Sargeant shouldn’t be a driver this season on performance, that’s the thing.
MichaelN
22nd March 2024, 23:40
While perhaps true, these kind of shenanigans all but end any hopes of him getting meaningfully better.
So much of the performance comes from the psychology and the mindset the drivers are in, and where Sargeant may have felt a bit uneasy before – given he has indeed been slower – now the team just made it clear to the entire world that they’d prefer him not to be driving the car. It’s one thing to dump a driver at the end of a season, or even in the middle of one, but quite another to straight up humiliate him.
The timing here is also poor. It’s just the third race of the year, with just 1 point between the bottom five teams on the board. There is no need for these antics. Add to that the fact that Albon is himself to blame for being out of the weekend, and it just raises a lot of questions about Vowles’ approach. And about Albon for going along with it.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
23rd March 2024, 18:46
If Sargeant had the talent, he would be driving this weekend. The team principal made the right decision for the team.
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
22nd March 2024, 22:57
An awkward precedent has now been set at Williams. Albon now knows he can push beyond the limits and get a second chance no matter what.
I agree with you that unless Albon scores points or at least looks like he would have scored points with better luck, Williams will have decimated the confidence of their 2nd driver for nothing.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
23rd March 2024, 18:51
On the other hand, the precedent has been set that if Sargeant doesn’t deliver results, he will not be driving. This is a good thing for the team, and the sport. Aston Martin should take note.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
22nd March 2024, 18:48
I often read about how F1 is making more money than ever thanks to Liberty and yet there is a team that cannot afford to be properly ready for a Grand Prix. Even Minardi could afford a spare car 25 years ago, where is the money going?
SteveP
22nd March 2024, 19:27
Williams setup was revealed to be massively out of date and in need of massive (cost breaking levels) infrastructure spending.
Other articles have covered the “we’ve always done it this way” tendency to do manually what other teams automate.
They are in the position of having to gradually introduce the automation of processes as the cost cap prevents full spend in one shot.
Gradual changeover leaves the workforce needing to do some duplication of tasks at some point in the change period, something has to give, and hopefully it isn’t the menatl health of the staff.
MichaelN
22nd March 2024, 20:04
Now you’re asking questions that nobody wants answered.
Liberty paid out 1.2 billion to the teams last year. Billion with a B.
And they can’t field 20 cars, which is already fewer than the 26 the regulations state can be in F1.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
22nd March 2024, 20:41
Manufacturers like Mercedes are stealing it from them in the price of their power units.
130 million every year, per team, so Mercedes rakes in approximately 520 million euros. which is half of said sum. Interesting how these rules are bankrupting the teams, creating a serf like relationship between the satellite teams.
Probably why they are so risk adverse to a competent team like Andretti who might actually be able to shake up the shake down.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
22nd March 2024, 20:51
correction, that will be the case from 2026, the cap is 95 million euros per year per team, so Merc are raking in close to 400~ million. Probably why they are running the drivers and teams like cogs in a machine with no down time, because the pricing model is ridiculously unsustainable and borderline criminal.
SteveP
23rd March 2024, 6:27
and your numbers are pure fantasy, since you’re apportioning the whole cost cap for a team to the price laid out to Mercedes for the engine.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
23rd March 2024, 18:52
Surely the shareholders can afford their Sunday drives…
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
22nd March 2024, 19:50
James is clear that Andretti dont bring ‘value’. But I imagine they could bring enough spares to complete FP1 without retiring a car for the rest of the weekend.
I get that the team is in a period of transition infrastructure wise. But this is round 3. Alex or Logan were always likely to hit / break something by now.
MGus.ai
22nd March 2024, 20:27
this is pure “andretti-denial” karma.
In the next two years, I think it will be common to see the grid without 20 cars.
And I expect that there will be surprises in 2025 as a whole team cant field a challenger.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
22nd March 2024, 20:44
James is a dunce, just like Toto. These guys only count beans, and have no engineering acumen or leadership ability.
SteveP
22nd March 2024, 20:48
If this was 2025 and Andretti had achieved their original target of 2025 entry to the grid, they would have a full modern infrastructure funded outside the cost cap.
Sadly, no matter how much cash their funders can provide, Williams are not able to spend outside the cost cap.
Vowles is on record expressing his shock that Williams were operating such an antiquated infrastructure, and that it amazed him that they had actually managed to put cars on the track for so many years with so little investment.
As to another team possibly suffering, sooner or later Gene Haas will need to stick hands in pockets to fund some of the infrastructure work Steiner wanted funding for, either that or sell up.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
22nd March 2024, 20:55
@Steve, older people probably work efficiently enough with more ‘antiquated’ work flows. As for his excuse of revamping his information systems for a current car/season. This just shows how inept he is. If he was serious he would only be slowly rolling that out for 2026, and letting the current stock/inventory/system wind down through 2025. Vowels needs a course in project management and maybe a few seminars on leadership. As far as I can tell, Toto probably ‘installed’ him over at Williams as a yes man, and thats probably why the teams called Williams is where it is today.
SteveP
23rd March 2024, 6:36
I work more efficiently than young colleagues when presented with antiquated work flows, that’s experience.
I work more efficiently than young colleagues with modern work flows, and I work more efficiently with the modernised workflows than I do with the old ones, that’s progress.
If you read the articles, he’s been making changes gradually. However, there is always a switchover point that hurts.
George.be
23rd March 2024, 10:50
I understand why they don’t have a spare spec24 chassis, but why didn’t they bring a spec23 car as backup? AFAIK that car might be less performant, but it seems better than not racing at all.
George.be
23rd March 2024, 10:53
I can understand why they don’t have a spare spec24 chassis, but why didn’t they bring a spec23 car as backup? AFAIK that car might be less performant, but it seems better than not racing at all.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
23rd March 2024, 18:59
The new parts would not fit the old chassis. They would also have to bring all the old spare parts for last years car too. Furthermore, last year’s chassis would have been at the end of it’s designed lifespan. Remember, F1 cars are rolling prototypes, and have to be just that, if they are to be competitive.