Last Updated on March 22 2024, 11:38 pm

Williams fiasco utterly predictable as Sargeant dropped, the team in effect sacking their US driver in favour of Albon at least for Australia. Formula One rolled into the furthest destination from its home base in Europe as the teams arrived in Melbourne earlier this week. The race in Victoria state used to be the F1 season opener for Grand Prix circus, but as pre-season testing became ever restricted and moved to Bahrain, the Australians lost this honour.

With two races under their belts, the F1 teams’ factories are in full production bringing along the early season upgrades and filing any holes in the inventory which were missed as the last minute parts of there cars were put together.

 

 

 

Chaos in final Williams FW46 assembly

Yet the Williams pre-season final preparations were revealed to be hectic by James Vowels at the launch in New York City. “There were times where I don’t mind admitting I wasn’t sleeping for probably days at a time, because the weight of a 1,000 people falls on your shoulders,” said the Williams team principal.”

As testing approached, it became evident to technical director Pat Fry, that the team were significantly behind schedule. Team principal James Vowels had made the decision to continue with CFD aero development: “I much rather wanted to spend the time dedicated to the virtual track test and we’ll shake it down in Bahrain.”

Fry almost shudders at the memory of the final push to get the Williams 2024 car finalised. “The way we go about making a car is quite different, I would say, from what I would call normal,” Fry said as per Motorsport.com. “And it’s not very efficient.

“Everything is massively late. [It’s not as] if you’re leaving things late for a reason, and I’m used to having lots of stuff early that’s not performant, and the floor as late as possible, because that’s your biggest aero thing. And in a cost cap, you’re only going to make one, and the one at the test is the one at the race.

Horner savaged again prior to Australian GP

 

 

 

Albon big crash in practice one

“But we just had everything [late]. I’ve never seen anything like it. Don’t want to live it again. I’m sure James doesn’t want to live it again either!,” Fry revealed.

One of the compromises Williams has clearly now made, is to produce one less chassis (or tub) than usually an F1 team has at trackside. The chassis is the most complicated component in a Formula One car to produce and must be FIA crash test approved before the design can be utilised.

Williams star driver Alex Albon had a big off in practice one in Melbourne and he failed to appear for FP2 as the team ‘assessed what they could salvage’ from the wreck of the FW46.

Albon was not encouraged stating to smelled media: “There’s not much that can be salvaged, if I’m honest. We’re going through it now, looking at where the damage is.

Vowels supports Logan Sargeant replacement

 

 

 

Albon says car acted strangely

“It’s going to be tricky, that’s for sure, so obviously very frustrating for that reason.”

Alex Albon was surprised by how the car reacted to the exit kerb at Turn 6. When asked about the incident, Albon said: “Just exploring a little bit, went a bit wide, had a bit of an aggressive kerb strike and it lifted up the front.

“I honestly didn’t think anything of it at the time. I thought: ‘OK, it’s fine. I’ll obviously just back out and let the car land.’

“But when I did land I bottomed out pretty badly and when it bottomed out it just kind of spat me [into the wall].”

Down beat Ricciardo accepts this may be his last Australian GP

 

 

 

Kravitz questions Williams strategy

It quickly became clear during FP2 that Williams did not have a spare chassis which then revealed confused thinking down at Williams. Why was Sargeant running in FP2 when clearly the team would have only car available for the rest of the weekend?

Sky F1’s veteran pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz was incredulous that Williams did not have a spare chassis for either the race in Jeddah or for Australia.

“If they didn’t have a spare tub for here, then they didn’t have one for Jeddah,” surmised Kravitz.  “And given that the walls are just as close in Jeddah and the speed arguably higher than here [in Melbourne]…

“Can you Imagine the tension and the pressure on the drivers not to have a crash and ‘do in the tub’ – they would have known that won’t they?”

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Williams gambling on parts

“They would have told Albon and Sargeant ‘please don’t have a crash and if you do don’t damage the tub’, then I don’t think its possible to have a crash – and know whether you’ve damaged the tub or not – because at Melbourne and Jeddah, we won’t be able to fix it’”

The inevitable news finally trickled through that Logan Sargeant would be standing down for the track sessions on Saturday and Sunday in Melbourne. Alex Albon would be taking over his car for the rest of the weekend.

“This is the hardest moment I can remember in my career and it’s absolutely not easy,” Sargeant explained.

“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.”

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Sargeant forced to stand down

Albon himself praised the professionalism Sargeant had shown in the withdrawal but was “keen” to not dwell on the situation moving forward.

“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,” Albon explained.

“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.”

Sky F1 in Grand Cull of TV presenters

 

 

 

Pressure increases on Albon

Alex Albon is under even more pressure now to complete FP3 and qualifying without further incident to justify the team’s decision to stand down his team mate.

Of course Williams will provide us with an explanation in the near future, but it appears the team strategy is to push forward the car design rather than ensure they have enough components for both drivers to compete at each racing event.

Given his lack lustre performance when compared to his team mate Alex Albon, the American Logan Sargeant from Florida must completely understand why the team is operating in the manner it is. James Vowels admitted late in the day: “It’s unacceptable in modern day Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis,” he admitted, explaining how 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”.

Hamilton makes serious allegations against FIA

 

 

Marko refuses to deny Mercedes ‘offer’ to Ma

The Formula One paddock is abuzz with speculation and intrigue as rumours of a possible change of allegiance for world champion Max Verstappen gather pace. Against a backdrop of infighting within Red Bull Racing, whispers of an offer from rival team Mercedes have emerged, putting the spotlight on Red Bull’s top brass for clarity.

Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing’s influential advisor known for his candour and strategic acumen, recently addressed these rumours, but in a manner that left more questions than answers…. READ MORE