Williams have announced that Alex Albon will take Logan Sargeant’s seat for the rest of the weekend in Australia despite the former wrecking his car in free practice.
Albon was involved in a heavy crash during the first free practice session on Friday with his Williams car bouncing off two walls.
The Oxfordshire-based team immediately went to work on trying to fix Albon’s car, but he wasn’t able to get out for FP2 later in the day.
It was decided that Albon’s chassis was damaged beyond repair and Williams didn’t bring a spare with them to Melbourne.
Alex Albon will take Logan Sargeant’s car
GETTY
That leaves them with just Sargeant’s car for the weekend and Williams team principal James Vowles has announced that Albon will replace the American driver for the rest of the weekend.
“We are hugely disappointed that the damage sustained to the chassis has meant we need to withdraw it from the weekend,” Vowles said.
“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.”
Sargeant struggled in his F1 debut season last year as he picked up just one championship point.
Williams opted to retain the 23-year-old for the 2024 season, but he’s been unable to challenge with Albon on track in the first two races of the year in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Williams have been unable to fix Alex Albon’s car
GETTY
He will now have to wait until the Japanese Grand Prix next month for a chance at beating Albon on track.
Albon apologised to Williams over team radio immediately after his crash on Friday.
He added later that the incident came as a result of running a bit wide at Turn 6, but he was taken by surprise at what happened next.
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Alex Albon’s car was damaged beyond repair
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“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].
“So frustrating, of course, and obviously just feel bad for everyone back at the factory and here at the track.”
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