Williams have withdrawn Logan Sargeant from the Australian Grand Prix in order to let his team mate race his car.
The team is unable to repair the chassis Alexander Albon crashed during the first practice session for the race today. As they have not brought a spare chassis to Melbourne, they only have one FW46 left for the remainder of the weekend.
Team principal James Vowles said he chose to give Sargeant’s car to Albon “based on our best potential to score points this weekend.” Albon was the team’s top scorer last year, taking 27 points to Sargeant’s one, enough to single-handedly put Williams seventh in the constructors’ championship.
Vowles, who took charge at the team at the beginning of last season, admitted it was “unacceptable” the team had insufficient parts for the third round of the championship to have a spare car on hand.
“We are hugely disappointed that the damage sustained to the chassis has meant we need to withdraw it from the weekend,” he 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.”
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Sargeant, whose best result so far this season is 14th, said agreeing to stand down was “the hardest moment I can remember in my career.”
“It’s absolutely not easy,” he continued. “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.”
Albon, who scored the team’s best result of the season to date with 11th place in Jeddah two weeks ago, admitted he felt conflicted about replacing his team mate.
“No driver would want to give up his seat. I would never want anything like this to happen. Logan…
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