Formula 1 in Australia: Williams’ incredible decision with Albon after destroying his car and “the most difficult moment” of Sargeant’s career

After a truly unrewarding start to the 2024 season, certainly Logan Sargeant I dreamed of changing my luck this weekend in Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. However, the American will have to continue to wait to take his revenge, given that he won’t even be able to give a gift in the third test of the year. And it won’t be because of his problem, but because of another’s difficulty: the Williams team has decided to remove him from his car, which will be used by his teammate, the Thai Alessandro Albonwho suffered during the first free practice session this Friday an accident that left his car inoperable.

40 minutes had passed in the first lap on the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne when Albon lost control of his car, after having stepped on the curb at turn 6 of the track, and ended up against the wall at turn 7, causing the red writing flags displayed and the activity was stopped. After 10 minutes, during which the blue car was removed and the track was cleaned (numerous remains of the Williams were scattered on the asphalt), the session could be completed.

In that first run, Sargeant set the best of his 22 laps in 1:19.519 and finished 14th, 955 thousandths behind Britain’s Lando Norris (McLaren), who was the fastest. Shortly afterwards, in the second free practice session, in which Albon was unable to participate, the American was 13th and 1.3 seconds behind the Ferrari of Monegasque Charles Leclerc. While the driver born 23 years ago in Fort Lauderdale did his homework on the track, the mechanics of his team examined Albon’s damaged car in the pits.

From that assessment came bitter news for North America. As night fell in Melbourne, Williams announced that damage to the Thai’s car prevented a repair in the following hours and forced the unit to be sent to the team’s headquarters in Grove (UK). Without an escort vehicle, The English team decided that its only FW46 available would be used for the rest of the weekend by Albonso, without eating or drinking it, Sargeant will have to watch the Australian Grand Prix through a screen.

“This is the most difficult moment I can remember in my career”, recognized the American. “This is not easy at all. However, I am here completely for the team and I will continue to contribute everything I can this weekend to maximize what we can do,” tried to clarify the driver who joined the Williams Academy (to which Franco Colapinto currently belongs) in October 2021 and made his Formula 1 debut in 2023, after finishing fourth in the Formula 2 championship in 2022.

Between a slight sense of guilt and the inevitable pragmatism when faced with a crossroads like this, Albon thanked his teammate for his gesture: “I have to be totally honest and say that no rider would want to give up their seat. But Logan has been a consummate professional and team player since day one. “It won’t be easy for him.” In any case, it didn’t take him long to focus on the future: “I can’t dwell on the situation. “My only job now is to maximize our potential this weekend and work with the entire team to ensure we do the best job possible.”

Williams’ decision to prioritize Albon over Sargeant appears to have clear support in the numbers: The Thai contributed 27 of the 28 points the team scored in 2023 and which allowed it to finish seventh in the Constructors’ Championship (his teammate barely managed a point for his 10th place in Austin) . This year, in which Williams is one of the four teams that have not yet joined (the others are Kick Sauber, RB and Alpine), the Asian finished 15th in Bahrain and 11th in Saudi Arabia, while the American he finished 20th and 14th respectively. .

Beyond the statistics, Williams’ response to this difficulty has made it clear that the team is very far from the structure that it achieved in its golden years, in the 80s and 90s. nine crowns in the Constructors’ Championship and seven drivers’ titles hand in hand with figures like the French Alain Prostthe Brazilian Nelson Piquet and the English Nigel Mansell.

“We are very disappointed that the damage suffered to (Albon’s) chassis has forced him to withdraw from the weekend. “It’s unacceptable in today’s Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis, but it’s a reflection of how far behind we were in the winter and an example of why we need to make significant changes to be in a better position for the future,” he admitted James Vowles, team director, who acknowledged that it was a “very difficult decision” to remove Sargeant from his FW46.

“While Logan shouldn’t suffer for a mistake he didn’t make, every race counts when you’re tighter than ever, so we made the decision based on our best potential to score points this weekend. This decision was not made lightly and we cannot thank Logan enough for his kind acceptance, which demonstrates his dedication to the team. “He IS a real team player,” justified Vowles, who promised that after this “difficult weekend for Williams”, the team will not suffer a similar situation again due to material shortages.

Leclerc, the fastest in training

Beyond the difficulties encountered by Williams, Ferrari showed its potential in Friday’s tests ahead of the Australian Grand Prix: the Monegasque Charles Leclerc set the best time of the day (1:17.277), while the Spaniard Carlos Sainz finished third. Between the two men of the Italian team was the leader of the competition, the Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull).

“From the first laps I felt comfortable in the car. But we have a lot of work to do because Red Bull didn’t give their all. I’m always ahead,” acknowledged Leclerc, who will try to break the streak of nine consecutive victories with which Verstappen arrived in Australia.

Winner in Melbourne a year ago, the three-time world champion, who leads the competition by 15 points over teammate Sergio Pérez, damaged the floor of his car in the first practice session and missed 22 minutes of the second while his mechanics repaired the failure.

For his part, Sainz finished in a creditable third position after undergoing an appendicitis operation two weeks ago that left him out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. “I’m happy that I was able to complete the entire day without any problems. Obviously I’m a little tired after spending two weeks mostly in bed recovering. Despite this, I was able to spend the whole day without any pain,” said the Madrilenian.

The other side of that positive day for Sainz in front of the 124,000 people who packed the Albert Park facilities was the disappointing performance of the British Lewis Hamilton, who had to settle for a very distant 18th place in the second session, after finishing ninth in first aboard his Mercedes.

“In the first session the car was generally good. To continue learning we made some important changes in the second round and unfortunately things got worse,” explained the seven-time world champion, who will race with a Ferrari from 2025.

“Obviously I don’t feel very well. We had one of the worst sessions I’ve probably had in a long time. After that I feel less confident than I have ever felt with this car, but there are positive aspects to learn from the first run we did,” acknowledged the Englishman.

The third free practice session of the Australian Grand Prix will take place on Friday at 10.30pm (Argentina time), while qualifying will take place on Saturday at 2am. The race, which will take place over 58 laps on the 5,278 meter track, will start on Sunday at 1:00.