SUZUKA, Japan — Williams looked set to avoid a second consecutive Formula One race weekend with just one car in action despite Logan Sargeant’s crash in first practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Sargeant, driving the repaired chassis broken by teammate Alex Albon at the Australian Grand Prix, crashed on the uphill Dunlop section of the race track, sparking fears of further damage.
The team’s initial assessment was that Sargeant’s chassis had survived the accident, although it left Williams with a heavy repair job.
Williams will not have a spare frame for its drivers until the Miami Grand Prix in early May.
“It’s very important,” team boss James Bowles said of the damage. “The chassis is fine, thankfully, but I’d say almost everything else isn’t. So suspension all over, gearbox cracked, a lot of damage.”
The damage meant Sargeant did not take part in the second practice session on Friday, with Williams working to get the car right in time for final practice and qualifying on Saturday.
The incident will likely raise bigger questions about the American driver’s confidence following the events following his team-mate Albon’s crash in Friday practice at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit last month.
After Albon’s crash left the team with one chassis, Sargeant’s race was effectively sacrificed so his teammate could take part in the event.
Albon has outscored Sargeant 27-1 since they became teammates, and Williams says the Thai had a better chance of scoring in the top ten.
Bowles played down the suggestion that Sargeant’s Suzuka crash suggested he had a crisis of confidence after the events of two weeks ago.
“I’ve been talking to him all week, all these last few weeks in fact, because that’s where you have to keep a driver very close to you,” Bowles said. “You’ve given them a very difficult situation to deal with, through no fault of their own, but honestly he’s been in a really good mental state this week and last night again when I called him around 9-10 p.m., really, really strong mentally condition.
βHe just wanted to get back in the car and start, but not with the intention of proving to the world that he deserves his place, just his normal approach to things. What you saw here wasn’t a driver making a mistake because I think they went overboard, it’s a very different kind of mistake.
βVery frustrating by all accounts because it wasn’t at the limit of what the car could do, there was a lot more cornering potential there, he just didn’t know where the car was on track relative to where he expected it to be. So I don’t think you’re seeing there the reaction of someone who wasn’t driving in Melbourne, I think you’re seeing more of just a situation that could come up at any time.”