Williams team principal James Vowles admitted it was “unacceptable” his team did not have a spare car ready in time for the third round of the championship.
It presented Vowles with a difficult decision to make when Alexander Albon crashed one of the team’s two cars in the opening practice session at Albert Park. Ordinarily that might have been the end of Albon’s weekend, but Vowles decided otherwise.
The team has instead opted to take Logan Sargeant out of his car and hand it to Albon. While Vowles stressed it was a “difficult decision” which “was not made lightly”, he also said they “made the call based on our best potential to score points this weekend.”
Have Williams made the right call?
For
The numbers are unquestionably on Williams’ side. Prior to this weekend, in their 24 races as team mates, Sargeant has never qualified ahead of Albon nor taken the chequered flag in a grand prix before him.
Last year Albon scored 27 of the team’ 28 points. Had he been their only points-scorer they would still have finished seventh in the championship. Had it been Sargeant, they would have been last.
Albon also has experience on his side. Expecting Sargeant to lead a solo entry just three rounds into his second year as an F1 driver would be too much.
Against
Sargeant is being made to pay the price for his team mate’s error. There were several occasions last year when he was the driver who crashed, but he’s kept his car out of the barriers so far this weekend and doesn’t deserve to have it taken away from him.
Williams knew the compromise it was making when it signed Sargeant as a rookie last year. New drivers need time in the car to develop, which makes their decision to bench him illogical.
If he’s not good enough to deserve the drive on his own merit, he shouldn’t be in the car to begin with.
I say
I sympathise completely with Sargeant, but Vowles has made the right decision. Williams has become a one-car team for this event, and its Albon is unquestionably the better bet on the whole.
True, he has now crashed twice in his last 13 laps of the Albert Park, and Williams will look extremely foolish if he has another accident. That said, Sargeant had a spin and went off during the second practice session, at which point he knew he was driving what was likely the team’s only remaining car.
This is the kind of call where the heart says one thing and the head another. On balance, Albon is the driver to…
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