Williams faced a challenge at the Australian Grand Prix by competing with just one car, after Alex Albon’s chassis was destroyed after the first free practice session. Eddie Jordan, former Formula 1 team owner, expressed being “appalled” by the “unacceptable” situation faced by Williams in Australia.
Alex Albon suffered a serious accident during FP1, which forced Williams to retire his chassis for the weekend. Without a spare chassis available, Albon was given Sargeant’s car for the remainder of the event.
Jordan, who ran an F1 team under his own name in the 1990s and 2000s, reflected on how operations were managed differently during his era. “I raced when you were allowed to have a backup car,” Jordan said on the Formula For Success podcast.
“So not only did you have two cars for the two drivers, but there was also another chassis in the back of the truck, completely disassembled. By that, I mean a bare monocoque, freshly painted, but just sitting there with minimal stuff hanging,” he explained.
Jordan made a call for a new direction. Williams team principal James Vowles opted to put Albon behind the wheel for the weekend rather than Sargeant, feeling there was more potential to score points with the Thai-British driver.
The Grove-based team has remained in the bottom half of the F1 standings for some time, having once been a consistent title contender.
Jordan suggested a figure from Williams’ glory days should return to offer direction for the future. “See, how big this team’s fall has been,” he said. “By that I mean, we know about the Rothmans days, we know about you [Coulthard] and Damon Hill. We remember [Nigel] Mansell, we remember [Alain] Prost, we remember [Ayrton] Senna. We remember the great drivers who were there.”
“For God’s sake, what happened to Williams? Patrick [Head] It is [Sir] Frank [Williams], of course, is unfortunately no longer with us, but Patrick is often in Sardinia, we need him back. We need someone back. It takes direction. It is impossible to accept that a team like Williams goes to a race, as they did in Australia, with just the chassis they had for the drivers – it is unacceptable.”
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