SUZUKA, Japan – Williams appeared to have dodged a second consecutive race weekend with just one car in action despite seeing Logan Sargeant crash out of practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Sargeant, driving the repaired chassis which was broken by teammate Alex Albon at the Australian Grand Prix, crashed through the uphill Dunlop section of the race track, raising fears of further damage.
The team’s initial assessment was that Sargeant’s chassis had survived the accident, although it left Williams with a hefty repair job which ruled him out of Friday’s second practice session.
Williams will not have a spare chassis for its drivers until the Miami Grand Prix at the start of May.
“It’s pretty significant,” team boss James Vowles said of the damage. “The chassis is OK, fortunately, but I would says pretty much everything else isn’t. So suspension all-round, gearbox cracked, big damage.”
Sargeant was relieved the incident did not ruin the rest of his weekend.
“I just put the car in a place I didn’t realise I was at, it’s a bit of a silly error to be honest, one I shouldn’t be making, especially in [first practice],” he said.
“Fortunately it wasn’t like the mistakes last year, wasn’t an over-pushing thing, nevertheless still left the team with some damage. Fortunately got away better than it could have been.”
Williams hopes to have the car ready in time for final practice on Saturday morning, which takes place before qualifying for the grand prix.
The damage meant Sargeant took no part in second practice on Friday, with Williams working to fix the car in time for final practice and qualifying on Saturday.
The incident will likely raise bigger questions about the American driver’s confidence after the events which followed teammate 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 out-scored Sargeant 27-1 since they became teammates and Williams reason the Thai had a better chance of scoring a top-ten finish.
Vowles downplayed the suggestion Sargeant’s Suzuka crashed hinted that he was having a crisis of confidence after the events of two weeks ago.
“I’ve been chatting to him all week, all these last few weeks in fact, because this is the point you’ve got to keep a driver very close to you,” Vowles said. “You’ve given them a very difficult situation to deal with, through no fault of their own, but he was honestly in a very good state of mind this week and last night again when I called him around 9-10pm, really, really strong state of mind.
“He just wanted to get back into the car and get going, but not with the intention of proving to the world that he deserves his seat, just his normal approach to things. What you saw here wasn’t a driver making a mistake because I think they were pushing to the limit, it’s a very different type of mistake.
“A very frustrating one by all accounts because it wasn’t on the limit of what the car could do, there was far more turning potential in there, he just didn’t know where the car was on track relative to where he expected it to be anyway. 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 just a situation that could have appeared anytime.”