Williams is once again facing a delicate situation. According to team principal James Vowles, the team will travel to the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix once again without a spare chassis.
This was already an issue in Australia after Albon’s accident in FP1. Without a spare chassis, Logan Sargeant lost the chance to participate in the rest of the weekend, giving up his car to Albon, following a team decision.
Albon’s damaged chassis is being repaired and should be ready in time for the Japanese GP. “I’m confident we can fix the chassis. We made arrangements for it to arrive here (Williams headquarters) early on Monday morning. I believe he arrived around two in the morning. Since then, there have been crews working on it, dismantling it and making repairs,” Vowles said in a team video.
There is still work to be done, but Williams believes it will be able to field two cars in Japan. However, drivers will have to be cautious as the team will once again not have a spare chassis available.
“We will not have a spare chassis in Japan. The original plan was to have three chassis in the first race, as expected. This was postponed until the third race due to delays in the arrival of components. And since then, especially with the work we are doing on chassis number two, there will again be a slight delay,” said Vowles.
“We will have a spare chassis soon, but the construction process takes weeks and thousands of hours of work. It is one of the biggest challenges within an F1 team. It needs to be done perfectly. Even after it is built, several items need to be installed to make it ready for the race”, added the team leader.
The message to Albon and Sargeant is clear: avoid accidents in Japan. Any crash that damages the chassis is likely to take one of the drivers, and again it must be Sargeant, out of the race. Suzuka is already a demanding circuit, and the lack of a spare chassis makes the situation even more critical for Williams.
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