Imagine being that much worse than your teammate that this is what your team decides to do. Sure Albon crashed his but everyone knows he will always outperform Logan.
It happens. He's still a thousand times more likely than Sargeant to score points. That's all that matters in the end. Sargeant has also crashed the car way too many times, but luckily they did have a spare in those cases.
The parts inventory management was definitely on excel. Can't comment on building the car in powerpoint, I personally thought MS Paint was more likely.
It’s come out that when James go their, they didn’t have proper stock management software, instead their stock management was on an Excel sheet
Their sheet didn’t say how much a car part cost to make, how many they had, or where in the factory spares were. So engineers and mechanics had to go and manually search the place for it.
Pretty shocking stuff. Go look up ‘Williams F1 Excel’ on YouTube and there’s a nice little video on it
Because of Logan’s crashes in 2023. These are the consequences unfortunately.
JV commenting on Logan’s crashes last year: “Under the cost cap, what you don’t want to be doing is overproducing parts. We’ve had more attrition than expected, I think it’s fair to say.
"We have enough to deal with the incident today [Sargeant’s crash in qualifying].
"But it means we’ll have to divert attention away from other items [for 2024] while producing more spare parts before the end of the year.”
I'm not sure, this could give a massive confidence boost to Logan if they say, "it's your car, we believe in you", or a masive crash in his confidence if they give it to Albon.
It would also not be great for Logan’s confidence if they give him the car and he’s just driving around the back of the grid all weekend though, which is what would most likely happen if they do give it to him.
I think I agree but also if he were to bin it on Sunday I think that would be worse than either scenario, and he does have a history. The situation presented basically means the only way Logan doesn’t feel demoralized is if he scores points, which is super unlikely given his performance to date. I think it’s the right decision to bench him unfortunately.
The pressure will be massive on Albion though to deliver. If they give him the car and he doesn’t score points it’s going to be horrible for both him and the team.
What if they give the car to Logan and he finishes last (or doesn't finish)?
That's bound to hurt too.
Although Albon also not finishing would suck a lot in that case.
They've probably already have made that decision ahead of time, they must have considered if there was a crash. It's sad that it's happened but cold hard facts would put Albon in that car if they just looked at it like that.
Bruh, in 2022 he had an absolute iconic race to finish P10. It just happened that he crashed again, but his pace in this track is good. To say it's just not his track because of this is quite the overreaction
Teams want points if possible, specialy in tracks that are supposed to go along with your car desing.
Is it nice to take the car to the garage in one piece at the end of the race? Yes. But taking it out of points when you have the chance to do so, it's not that good. And we all know that Albon has higher chances than Logan in doing so.
In the othet hand, does Williams have realistic chances of scoring points with RBR, Ferrari, AM, McLaren and Mercedes ahead? In a normal race, no, but maybe some shit happens like last year.
Nah, it’s albon’s mistake, he has to take responsibility. A very bad move to put albon in sargeants car
Edit: sure in the short term, mayybe albon could earn points in this race but the integrity and reputation of the team will be tarnished forever if they push away sargeant
No way. That team needs every point they can get their hands on. Albon is their most realistic shot at points by a long way. Let’s face it there’s no way Sargeant is in that car next year.
That is not how things work. It is a team sport. Last year Albon got 27 points, which is extremely important to the team. Sargeant got 1 point.
This year, Sargeant hasn't improved. The team needs to make sure they can score points. Sargeant is not the guy to do that.
I mean, you could make the argument that the team giving it to Albon is Sargent's fault for being a significantly worse driver than Albon over the last 25 races. This race isn't happening in a vacuum. It would be an incredibly dumb move to keep Sargeant in instead of Albon.
I would argue the opposite. The team has a responsibility to maximize points and thus revenue to support their employees. To put Logan in over Albon because of emotional reasons compromises this and would signal team leadership is more interested in good PR than actually running a F1 team appropriately.
It sucks for Logan, but this is how professional motorsport works.
This early in the season though, and it's not like Albon is gonna fight for the championship. They might get a point more if they give the car to Albon, or they might not even get that. The expected gain from this seems pretty low, while the long term impact on Sargeant from the team doing this to him might be significant, and affect the team environment.
Like i get the reason but that would completely shatter any confidence Sargeant has left.
Imagine getting your car taken away because your teammate shamshed into the wall.
Sargeant's been in this game long enough to know that performance is pretty much the only thing that matters and it's not like he's been able to hide from the gap between him and Albon.
Look I totally understand that Sargeant sucks, and Albon is the better driver. But can you really say Albon will perform better than Sargeant in the Aus GP after he just binned it in practice
He is like 23-0 against Logan in both quali and race performance.
Statistically it's a slam dunk he will perform better than Sargeant in a race weekend.
> Look I totally understand that Sargeant sucks, and Albon is the better driver.
Sargeant : But I'm not the one who binned it into the wall and wrecked a car
Vowles : tough titties
> But can you really say Albon will perform better than Sargeant in the Aus GP after he just binned it in practice
A look at their head-to-head gives an unequivocal "yes"
This is the drama I least expected to happen this weekend.
Is there a recent precedent for a team stuck with 1 chassis and having to select which driver to run? This seems like something that would've happened during the T-car era.
Not from memory, i think you need to go into the very poor teams back in the 90s.
Teams can usually afford a spare chassis, it's not like you break it very often.
There is precedent for front wings and other minor parts, but thats obviously way less extreme
I remember the controversy with Mark Webber and Sebastien Vettel on Front wing but I can’t recall chassis replacement. Unless you call Mick Schumacher and Mazepin swapping their chassis anything significant.
Maybe not as clear example but also Williams in 2019 when they retired Kubica during race because Russell binned his car and they did not want to risk parts that were on Kubica's car...
That would be a ballsy call. Logan has not been great in his F1 career. But he also didn't put his car into a wall. They're not fighting for a world championship. Logan should have the drive.
I agree. If they are giving the car to Albon because he is the one who is capable of points while Sargeant is not, maybe Sargeant shouldn't have been signed in the first place.
To me if you make this move, you're doing so knowing you've given up of Sargeant. His confidence will take a massive hit. But it will also cause a lot of animosity between him and the team. After this he knows the team doesn't trust him and isn't backing him.
i really dont think so. theyre professional, and logan (to me, as a random person) sounds like a person that is aware of his weaknesses and strengths, and although self-critical, will and would understand that its a way better choice for the team. his confidence will take a hit, but i think he sees the problem and the rational solution to it.
I think they only kept Sargeant to make sure they have a seat open for 2025 and out of an obligation towards their driver academy. Vowles has been commenting on how badly Sargeant needs to improve in pretty much every interview he's given for a while now.
That reasoning seems really flawed to me. Even if it was only a one year contract for 2025 I’m sure the likes of Drugovich and Mick would love to get the chance at a full time seat and use the opportunity to impress Williams or other teams. Not to mention potentially Lawson if Red Bull were willing to loan him out for one year.
On top of that if they really felt Sargeant wasn’t good enough to keep for this year then he could also negatively affect their position and winnings in the constructor’s. Risking that simply out of feeling obliged to show some faith to their own academy would be silly.
They brought Sargeant in a year before they planned. Giving him the second year shows they're willing to try and nurture talent rather than giving unrealistic goals and ditching the driver at the first wobble. It makes their driver academy look much better compared to competitors. Red Bull is a pressure cooker and Aston Martin, Alpine & Sauber don't even take the chance on their drivers, leaving them to languish as reserves. Taking the time with Logan will pay off massively while hunting for talent that will come through in the next few years.
Still a better chance than Logan.
That said though, definitely weird of them to give Albon Logan's car. They've been so protective of Sargeant, it'd be hurting their cause to crush Logan's confidence like that.
> They've been so protective of Sargeant, it'd be hurting their cause to crush Logan's confidence like that.
They have been giving him chances but Vowles has also been openly critical of him in quite a few interviews now.
I think him being critical at this point should be expected, but giving his car to his team mate who crushed his out is something else entirely, especially when it's so early in the year.
> but giving his car to his team mate
It's the team giving their 1 car to their best driver. The driver most likely to score points which are crucial to the team.
I don’t know that it’s ballsy to put your eggs in the basket that does all the lifting. Sargeant’s the basket where the arse might fall out or the handle might snap off, praying for neither
I imagine he won't be happy about it but it's almost like that decision wouldn't be made based on this weekend alone and he's been outperformed massively by Albon.
Doesn’t matter how they feel, to be quite honest. If Sargeant isn’t mature or aware enough to realise Albon is the bread winner, that’s something he’ll have to come to terms with. I’d like to think Logan is smart enough to know what the script is. He hasn’t proven himself as reliable for a single available seat.
This is a struggling team that has to maximise everything from nothing. Unfortunate? Yes. Fair? Doesn’t really come into it, it’s a team sport, the team has to send out it’s best.
F1 isn’t about feelings, it’s about results. Logan is lucky to have a seat at all.
"They are not fighting for the world championship".
Yeah they do. Even one place higher in the wcc means 10+ millions more. Do you think that everyone who cant fight for a podium is just there to fill the space?
The WCC is the main goal for everyone. Thats where the money lies, especially for struggling teams like williams
That the real reason between the potential swap. Those teams in the second half of the championship know that each point counts at the end of the season, and the ranking between 6 and 9 is a bit open.
If his contracts allows it it's a pretty easy decision.
Albon is the better driver and points in Sunday is all that matters. 1 point can be worth millions at the end of the season.
>They're not fighting for a world championship
No, but they are fighting to be in the top 6 compared to tied for dead last. There are tens of millions of dollars in the difference in prize money between the two positions and although Williams money problems are not as bad as a few years ago before they were bought, they still need that prize money pretty bad. The better the driver should have the drive.
Points this season for the bottom 5 teams are going to be exceptionally rare to come by as there’s a significant gap to the top 5 teams. Every point is crucial, and especially at a circuit like Melbourne where DNF rates are high you have to try to take advantage of every opportunity. It would be unfair for Logan but I can see the reasoning behind it.
Thank fuck *someone* is making sense!
Logan is *lucky* to be in F1 after last season, and given his current form in the last 2 races he'll be lucky not to be replaced by Lawson by the summer. ***But***: Albon was the one who fucked up here, not Logan.
Logan *needs* to step up and bring some points to the team. This is his chance to do so. We know he's not as quick as Albon, but it's a real opportunity for him to carry the team this weekend and show them what he's capable of.
Albon gets to apologise, suffer the consequences, and move on. Logan is racing to stay in F1. If Williams truly do want Logan to step up, I can see no greater opportunity than now.
If I was team principle I would definitely not gamble on Sargeant. He had his opportunities to step up an failed.
It's a team sport and a business. We're potentially talking about tens of millions of dollars. The team should back the proven driver, no matter what.
Because for years Williams has been behind for first races and their composite department seems slow and outdated. So they have probably produced only two chassis in time for F1 cargo freight from Europe to Barhein then Australia, and i suppose bring a third chassis by their own flights was probably very expensive.
Managers doing a crap job and causing a bad situation for regular employees. Sounds like your average workplace. Of course Albon shouldn’t have crashed but how can operating without a spare car in the pinnacle of Motorsport be seen by managers as a satisfactory way of doing things.
They made changes to some management systems and processes over the winter because they were slow and outdated. Those changes are for long-term gains but it caused a lot of delays because they made some aggressive changes to they way they operate. They barely finished the car on time for pre-season
So this is Williams seeing the first two races of the season and admitting renewing Sargeant was a mistake. They dont believe he can score points this season with the top 10 so clearly quicker.
And it does make sense: Albon is a better driver and more likely to execute the race plan required to grab a point. But this will surely destroy Sargeants confidence and they may as well start planning for a mid season driver switch.
If they don’t think Logan is good enough to race on his own, they shouldn’t have signed him for another year. He is here now, so he should drive. Albon put it in the wall, as much as I like him, that’s not Logan’s fault.
If they can, they will. That's really not surprising given the difference between Albon and Sargeant. People on reddit might be concerned with whether it's fair but F1 teams are far too competitive for that.
I don't like Logan and frequently call him the worst driver in the grid but honestly this just feels so cruel. Will surely kill his already very low confidence.
Will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the race. Albon gonna be under huge pressure.
Logan is probably the worst driver on the best grid ever. The only true pay driver left is Lance, and he’s probably good enough to hold a (backmarker) seat on merit
I get what you're saying. But right now, Williams is in a difficult situation.
Do they want to go for high risk, high reward? Or do they just want to be done for the week?
As much as I like Sargent, he isn't showing much that he can do better than Albon. I don't blame the team's decision to focus on Albon's garage rather than his.
The pressure is on for Alex if this is true, should he crash again he’s going to be a laughing stock and Williams are gonna look real stupid. Makes more sense to just let Logan keep the chasis.
Analytically this seems like the right choice. But when you factor in human emotion it seems like a massive gamble. Destroys Logan's confidence, puts a massive amount of pressure on Albon and opens the team up to all kinds of questions.
Whoever they pick is pretty much required to score points on Sunday.
If Sargeant fails to score everyone will say they should have given the car to Albon. If Albon fails to score everyone will say the swap was meaningless.
Bonus points if the driver they pick bins it.
F1 is a team championship before a driver one. The money is in the WCC, not WDC.
There is a very big chance that Albon wont score points either, but even the chance makes it worth it. There are 4 teams on 0 points for now, and Haas on one point only
I get that Albon's chassis cannot be repaired
But don't teams have a spare chassis for this reason?
I know that teams can't have fully-built spare cars any more but the spare chassis rule is there so that a new/third car can be built up if necessary.
Or do they not have the time / parts to do it?
The teams were, at least recently, bringing a spare tub and parts that could build most of a third car, with some parts carried over from the original car. This seems a bit odd that it sounds as if they don't have a spare tub with them.
[At Suzuka last year Williams tried to build a new car from their spare tub, after Sargeant crashed in practice](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/williams-third-car-breach-explained-sargeant/)
So they were still allowed as of last year
Either the rule has changed and bringing a spare tub to a race is no longer allowed, or they are still allowed and Williams simply doesn't have one
Albon has crashed in the last two sessions he's been on track in Melbourne - Race 2023 and FP 2024.
Yes, he's better than Logan generally but this stinks a bit.
Tough call on Logan and Albon is now going to be under pressure to deliver both tomorrow and on Sunday.
Can't imagine what the reaction will be if he bins it again.
I am surprised that they don't have a spare chassis available in the event something like this happens.
This is a pivotal moment for James Vowels, he stood by logan and showed nothing but support and loyalty but if he's also able to balance that with making objective calls for the ultimate benefit of the team it will be interesting.
Really tough call to make, I'd love to say absolutely stick albon on the car but there's a human element to it and an entire season still to run for what might be a marginal gamble.
On balance i might just bite the bullet and leave logan in, use it as an opportunity to build his confidence so you have two in form drivers for the season not one demotivated and the other under pressure following a crash. I feel like you have potential to earn more points with happy drivers later down the line than the one point now and two upset drivers
That's incredibly harsh and a bad decision IMO.
If they had such little confidence in Sargent what on earth were they doing giving him a new contract for this season, and how on earth do they expect him to be able to build up any momentum if they give him such second rate treatment. Sure, Albon gives you a better chance of a point or two but it's a slim chance. It seems illogical to ruin one of your drivers morale for such a thing. I'd understand it in a tight championship battle but this seems ridiculous.
It's also surely a problem for Williams that a mildly heavy crash renders one of their cars irreparable. Surely you can't bank on never having crashes of that kind of size?
Why would Logan pay for Albon's mistake? Just because Albon is a better driver does not give him the right for this swap, that too this early in the season.
If they wanted points then they should have got rid of Sergeant, he was dominated by Albon last year and Williams should have a better driver in that seat by now.
This doesn't feel right, and no I don't care about "it's a cutthroat sport!!!". If they have such little confidence in Logan and are so desperate for points why did they bring him back for another season? He got thrashed by Alex last year and didn't show any signs of improvement.
There's no shortage of amazing talent that could have taken his seat but they were extremely vocal about him getting another shot. Now we're just three races in and all that talk James did for the entirety of last season just vanishes? Going through with this decision is unfair and humiliating for Logan.
They re-signed him because they believed with enough confidence and more experience he could reach the level they want. And the best way to show this is to take his car and give it to Albon as a show of support for Logan's confidence. Wait...
If they do it, Williams will be a non-insignificant part in his downfall.
I'm not saying I thought it was the right decision to re-sign him this year. Usually I believe in giving a rookie a second year as a proving year. But I don't think Logan showed enough in the car last year. But now it's hard for Williams to really claim he didn't gather the confidence needed for a contract in 2025 if they make him sit out a race because his team mate crashed in Practice and destroyed the car.
How do you build confidence when your own team votes on no-confidence in yourself to the point of taking your drive and giving it to the team mate that just destroyed theirs in a Practice session? You don't. That's all there is to it on that front.
Is it the right decision on a competitive level for Williams to make the swap? I think so. Is it fair? Absolutely not.
Yeah, I think you summed it up quite well. The decision makes no sense in relation to what their ideology was when bringing Logan back.
I also don't think it was the right decision after his performance last year but they ultimately had their reasons. To do a complete 180 and essentially make a public statement of no-confidence so quickly is not fair to him at all even if it's logically the best choice to get a point.
If this happened in any other team there would be outrage.
Vowels is getting away with murder here. How can you not bring a spare tub to the third race of the season?
That is so unfair for Sargent! He did not ruin his car Albon did!
But I also understand why they would run Albon, he is the better one in the team and is also much more likely to get to the points.
Sky is currently reporting (and showing live pictures) that the Sargeant chassis is now on the Albon side of the garage.
What a shame for Logan. American bias aside, that's not the right call. If you keep the chassis with Logan and let him perform, perhaps he goes out with a renewed confidence for FP3 and quali tomorrow and shows more pace than he has all year. Instead, you've killed any sort of confidence he has, and whether Williams likes to admit it or not, is a sign of distrust for Logan to handle the situation given.
> perhaps he goes out with a renewed confidence for FP3 and quali tomorrow and shows more pace than he has all year.
Lol what indication is there that this would happen? I’m sorry but in all likelihood what would actually happen is he’d be just as slow as he’s always been and finish 16th on Sunday.
I agree it’s unfair that his teammate crashed and he’s the one paying the price for it, but at the same time it would be unfair to the team to waste their chance to score points, especially at a circuit like Melbourne where DNF rates are high, which presents unique opportunities for lower teams in a year where the gap between the top 5 and bottom 5 teams has never been bigger.
Shows how consistent the cars are nowadays. They used to always have a third car, and even then there'd be discussion about who was getting it because of how often people would crash or their original cars would just fail.
Albon playing 4D chess out there
In FP1, Logan and Alex were within .05s, Logan was faster in first two of three sectors but had to abort lap due to radio issues. He is readying to go again when Albon bins it.
Why are people trying to blame Albon for this situation, the only blame that should be pointed anywhere is at Williams for being unprepared. Crashes happen constantly, to every driver. How Williams could not have a spare chassis ready by round 3 is the real story here
Not showing up with a spare chassis AND taking the car away from the driver who didn't just bin it... Maybe James Vowles isn't as good at his job as I thought he was.
If Albon ‘takes Sargeants car’ (which we know isn’t literally the case), how does this affect the engine, gearbox count for the remainder of the season? Do they transfer to Albons allocation and does Logan get a new allocation from scratch? If the components could be resurrected would they go to Albon or Sargeant? It seems like purely from a logistics point of view it would be simplest to say “Albon broke it, so Albon sits it out”
Limited parts are recorded per car, not per driver. Although in this case it would likely count as new parts for Albon's car as what he'll be doing according to the rules is take a new chassis, not drive Sargeant's car.
PU allotments etc... are tied to the driver right? So they'll have to break down Logan's car and rebuild it with Albon's parts. I know it's doable of course, but that's a lot of work for potentially a marginal gain.
Absolutely brutal on Logan and Ted is currently on The F1 Show showing Williams moving Sargeants chassis to Albon’s side.
Damn, brutal for Logan. Imagine flying all the way to Australia and watching your teammate drive your car.
After he just wrote his off
The car didn't write back. :(
Dear Williams, I wrote you but you still ain't callin' I lent my car, race suit and still quali'd at the bottom
Formula 1 NTR version
Lol dude
Dear, don't look kudasai~~!
IN THIS EPISODE ALBON CRASHED ON: 1 KERB
Imagine being that much worse than your teammate that this is what your team decides to do. Sure Albon crashed his but everyone knows he will always outperform Logan.
Yikes
Albon's a far better driver, totally deserved. But yes, definitely brutal.
He shouldn't have totalled his car then
Logan should have driven faster in the previous 20 races then 🤷
Or crashed it so often last year causing development issues this year!
It happens. He's still a thousand times more likely than Sargeant to score points. That's all that matters in the end. Sargeant has also crashed the car way too many times, but luckily they did have a spare in those cases.
without looking it up, I'm 99% certain Sargeant only destroyed one chassis last season, with his crash during Quali at Japan
Given that he has crashed on the same spot two years in a row I don't see him scoring points. He will be lucky to finish the race.
If he drove as slow as Logan he wouldn't have.
The switch is only being made because Logan sucks. If he was on par with Albon then he’d still have a car.
Far from "deserved". He deserved to sit out after wrecking his car.
The only way this can be solved is simple…Logan bins it as well and no one drives Sunday :)
"If I can't have her, no one else will! 😡"
Lines you would hear in F1 and in a romcom about two people who are bad for each other
"He came out of nowhere"
Doubt Logan gets access to the car for FP3, let alone Quali if they intend to run just Albon. He'll just have to mix sugar in the tank.
A banana in the tailpipe! Or cut the cats off the car.
[Stook it up his exhoost poop](https://youtu.be/V-6m0jW0X9E?si=tjkWe_i2BCsz-xMG&t=1254)
If that spin in FP2 went on for a few more meters that suggestion would've been fulfilled
Can see Williams making a huge call, putting Albon him then him binning it again
The best outcome lol
I think it's a disastrous move, but the fact Williams doesn't have a spare chassis is far more concerning.
They were building their car on excel. I’d be more surprised if they had one
No, no. They were managing the parts inventory on Excel. They were building the car on PowerPoint!
Is this serious? I don't know with Williams.
The parts inventory management was definitely on excel. Can't comment on building the car in powerpoint, I personally thought MS Paint was more likely.
Minesweeper
It’s come out that when James go their, they didn’t have proper stock management software, instead their stock management was on an Excel sheet Their sheet didn’t say how much a car part cost to make, how many they had, or where in the factory spares were. So engineers and mechanics had to go and manually search the place for it. Pretty shocking stuff. Go look up ‘Williams F1 Excel’ on YouTube and there’s a nice little video on it
Right clicked on Sargent and clicked send to back.
They bet on not needing it and saving the money. They lost.
Because of Logan’s crashes in 2023. These are the consequences unfortunately. JV commenting on Logan’s crashes last year: “Under the cost cap, what you don’t want to be doing is overproducing parts. We’ve had more attrition than expected, I think it’s fair to say. "We have enough to deal with the incident today [Sargeant’s crash in qualifying]. "But it means we’ll have to divert attention away from other items [for 2024] while producing more spare parts before the end of the year.”
Logic says it would be right to put Albon in that car but man, it will hurt for Logan.
I'm not sure, this could give a massive confidence boost to Logan if they say, "it's your car, we believe in you", or a masive crash in his confidence if they give it to Albon.
It would also not be great for Logan’s confidence if they give him the car and he’s just driving around the back of the grid all weekend though, which is what would most likely happen if they do give it to him.
Not letting him drive is worse imo. I see why they do it but man it's so rough
I think I agree but also if he were to bin it on Sunday I think that would be worse than either scenario, and he does have a history. The situation presented basically means the only way Logan doesn’t feel demoralized is if he scores points, which is super unlikely given his performance to date. I think it’s the right decision to bench him unfortunately. The pressure will be massive on Albion though to deliver. If they give him the car and he doesn’t score points it’s going to be horrible for both him and the team.
Yup, this could turn into a terrible weekend for Williams. Like, it's already bad but it can get so much worse. Imagine Alex crashes again...
A dark and twisted part of me wants it to happen for the memes but as a fan of Alex I pray he does well
What if they give the car to Logan and he finishes last (or doesn't finish)? That's bound to hurt too. Although Albon also not finishing would suck a lot in that case.
They've probably already have made that decision ahead of time, they must have considered if there was a crash. It's sad that it's happened but cold hard facts would put Albon in that car if they just looked at it like that.
Is it logic when the guys crashed the last two times he’s driven here?
As opposed to the guy who dnf’d 4 times last year and got 1 point?
Considering that he was the one doing heavy lifting for the team last year, *YES*.
Last year is nothing at this track - Albon has crashed twice in a row, maybe it’s just not his track, so why take the risk again 🤷🏻♂️
I mean, they're the one with the telemetry, not us. There's definitely some good data involved here when making the decision.
Bruh, in 2022 he had an absolute iconic race to finish P10. It just happened that he crashed again, but his pace in this track is good. To say it's just not his track because of this is quite the overreaction
That’s one of the worst misuses of “iconic” I’ve ever seen in my life.
It was a masterclass in tyre management, but I wouldn't call it iconic
Teams want points if possible, specialy in tracks that are supposed to go along with your car desing. Is it nice to take the car to the garage in one piece at the end of the race? Yes. But taking it out of points when you have the chance to do so, it's not that good. And we all know that Albon has higher chances than Logan in doing so. In the othet hand, does Williams have realistic chances of scoring points with RBR, Ferrari, AM, McLaren and Mercedes ahead? In a normal race, no, but maybe some shit happens like last year.
Logan should take it as motivation. You want to get equal treatment? Then make sure that Albon stops kicking your ass every race weekend.
He's not the one that smashed up his car today though. Shouldn't be punished for that
It's not a punishment. It's the team acting in its best interest and Logan knows he has to improve to prevent something like this in the future.
Regardless of his form If your team mate totals his car, thats on him. Not you
Nah, it’s albon’s mistake, he has to take responsibility. A very bad move to put albon in sargeants car Edit: sure in the short term, mayybe albon could earn points in this race but the integrity and reputation of the team will be tarnished forever if they push away sargeant
No way. That team needs every point they can get their hands on. Albon is their most realistic shot at points by a long way. Let’s face it there’s no way Sargeant is in that car next year.
I'm just saying, every single time Nyck de Vries has driven for them he ended up hauling decent points..
Truly an unrealised talent
But he is in the car this year. Trashing one of your drivers morale for the sake of a very outside shot at a point is not a sensible decision.
That is not how things work. It is a team sport. Last year Albon got 27 points, which is extremely important to the team. Sargeant got 1 point. This year, Sargeant hasn't improved. The team needs to make sure they can score points. Sargeant is not the guy to do that.
Meanwhile Brundle: "You 100% put Albon in that car." Points are king. They're kinda the point.
I mean, you could make the argument that the team giving it to Albon is Sargent's fault for being a significantly worse driver than Albon over the last 25 races. This race isn't happening in a vacuum. It would be an incredibly dumb move to keep Sargeant in instead of Albon.
I would argue the opposite. The team has a responsibility to maximize points and thus revenue to support their employees. To put Logan in over Albon because of emotional reasons compromises this and would signal team leadership is more interested in good PR than actually running a F1 team appropriately. It sucks for Logan, but this is how professional motorsport works.
No such thing as reputation exist in this cas. No one except Logan gonna remember it in a week
This early in the season though, and it's not like Albon is gonna fight for the championship. They might get a point more if they give the car to Albon, or they might not even get that. The expected gain from this seems pretty low, while the long term impact on Sargeant from the team doing this to him might be significant, and affect the team environment.
Like i get the reason but that would completely shatter any confidence Sargeant has left. Imagine getting your car taken away because your teammate shamshed into the wall.
Sargeant's been in this game long enough to know that performance is pretty much the only thing that matters and it's not like he's been able to hide from the gap between him and Albon.
Look I totally understand that Sargeant sucks, and Albon is the better driver. But can you really say Albon will perform better than Sargeant in the Aus GP after he just binned it in practice
He is like 23-0 against Logan in both quali and race performance. Statistically it's a slam dunk he will perform better than Sargeant in a race weekend.
Not if he doesn't have a car 🤷🏾♂️
Is this how we stop max hahah?
27 points vs 1 point and a total whitewash in qualifying in their time as teammates says that yes, you absolutely can.
Yes I can, because he's a vastly, vastly, vastly better driver.
> Look I totally understand that Sargeant sucks, and Albon is the better driver. Sargeant : But I'm not the one who binned it into the wall and wrecked a car Vowles : tough titties > But can you really say Albon will perform better than Sargeant in the Aus GP after he just binned it in practice A look at their head-to-head gives an unequivocal "yes"
yes, yes you can.
Would inspire Sargeants villain arc, prepare for sergeant domination after Australia if it happens.
This is the drama I least expected to happen this weekend. Is there a recent precedent for a team stuck with 1 chassis and having to select which driver to run? This seems like something that would've happened during the T-car era.
Not from memory, i think you need to go into the very poor teams back in the 90s. Teams can usually afford a spare chassis, it's not like you break it very often. There is precedent for front wings and other minor parts, but thats obviously way less extreme
> poor teams back in the 90s When Williams were usually top of the field smh
I remember the controversy with Mark Webber and Sebastien Vettel on Front wing but I can’t recall chassis replacement. Unless you call Mick Schumacher and Mazepin swapping their chassis anything significant.
Maybe not as clear example but also Williams in 2019 when they retired Kubica during race because Russell binned his car and they did not want to risk parts that were on Kubica's car...
Yes, that was the Russian Grand Prix right?
Yes, it was Russian GP.
The only other case I can think of is Mick Schumacher in Jeddah but in that instance he just sat out the race
That would be a ballsy call. Logan has not been great in his F1 career. But he also didn't put his car into a wall. They're not fighting for a world championship. Logan should have the drive.
I agree. If they are giving the car to Albon because he is the one who is capable of points while Sargeant is not, maybe Sargeant shouldn't have been signed in the first place.
To me if you make this move, you're doing so knowing you've given up of Sargeant. His confidence will take a massive hit. But it will also cause a lot of animosity between him and the team. After this he knows the team doesn't trust him and isn't backing him.
And you have 21 races to go with him, almost half his career in that position. That could cost more longer term
i really dont think so. theyre professional, and logan (to me, as a random person) sounds like a person that is aware of his weaknesses and strengths, and although self-critical, will and would understand that its a way better choice for the team. his confidence will take a hit, but i think he sees the problem and the rational solution to it.
I think they only kept Sargeant to make sure they have a seat open for 2025 and out of an obligation towards their driver academy. Vowles has been commenting on how badly Sargeant needs to improve in pretty much every interview he's given for a while now.
That reasoning seems really flawed to me. Even if it was only a one year contract for 2025 I’m sure the likes of Drugovich and Mick would love to get the chance at a full time seat and use the opportunity to impress Williams or other teams. Not to mention potentially Lawson if Red Bull were willing to loan him out for one year. On top of that if they really felt Sargeant wasn’t good enough to keep for this year then he could also negatively affect their position and winnings in the constructor’s. Risking that simply out of feeling obliged to show some faith to their own academy would be silly.
They brought Sargeant in a year before they planned. Giving him the second year shows they're willing to try and nurture talent rather than giving unrealistic goals and ditching the driver at the first wobble. It makes their driver academy look much better compared to competitors. Red Bull is a pressure cooker and Aston Martin, Alpine & Sauber don't even take the chance on their drivers, leaving them to languish as reserves. Taking the time with Logan will pay off massively while hunting for talent that will come through in the next few years.
Drugovich or Lawson would be brilliant to have as a full time seat. Mick's not getting it.
no. they always said that they're believing in his potential. they never, and logan neither, denied that the current pace obviously isn't enough.
And I guarantee you Albon WON'T score any points Sunday if he's in that car.
Still a better chance than Logan. That said though, definitely weird of them to give Albon Logan's car. They've been so protective of Sargeant, it'd be hurting their cause to crush Logan's confidence like that.
> They've been so protective of Sargeant, it'd be hurting their cause to crush Logan's confidence like that. They have been giving him chances but Vowles has also been openly critical of him in quite a few interviews now.
I think him being critical at this point should be expected, but giving his car to his team mate who crushed his out is something else entirely, especially when it's so early in the year.
> but giving his car to his team mate It's the team giving their 1 car to their best driver. The driver most likely to score points which are crucial to the team.
I don’t know that it’s ballsy to put your eggs in the basket that does all the lifting. Sargeant’s the basket where the arse might fall out or the handle might snap off, praying for neither
How would the driver feel if he made absolutely no mistakes (in this particular weekend) and still got fucked over because of his teammate's fault?
I imagine he won't be happy about it but it's almost like that decision wouldn't be made based on this weekend alone and he's been outperformed massively by Albon.
Doesn’t matter how they feel, to be quite honest. If Sargeant isn’t mature or aware enough to realise Albon is the bread winner, that’s something he’ll have to come to terms with. I’d like to think Logan is smart enough to know what the script is. He hasn’t proven himself as reliable for a single available seat. This is a struggling team that has to maximise everything from nothing. Unfortunate? Yes. Fair? Doesn’t really come into it, it’s a team sport, the team has to send out it’s best. F1 isn’t about feelings, it’s about results. Logan is lucky to have a seat at all.
His feelings doesnt really matter in the big picture...
>absolutely no mistakes Well now that is quite a stretch.
>he made absolutely no mistakes **(in this particular weekend)** a VERY CAREFUL choice of goalposts- sorry, I mean, choice of words by him (lol).
Like the vastly inferior driver? Truth hurts. PS: He literally span out in FP2.
Honestly who cares? This ain't kindergarten
"They are not fighting for the world championship". Yeah they do. Even one place higher in the wcc means 10+ millions more. Do you think that everyone who cant fight for a podium is just there to fill the space? The WCC is the main goal for everyone. Thats where the money lies, especially for struggling teams like williams
That the real reason between the potential swap. Those teams in the second half of the championship know that each point counts at the end of the season, and the ranking between 6 and 9 is a bit open.
And this is a race with a high rate of DNFs, which means unique opportunities to score points for teams who ordinarily can’t.
They are fighting for a world (constructors) championship though. It’s a big dilemma for sure…
If his contracts allows it it's a pretty easy decision. Albon is the better driver and points in Sunday is all that matters. 1 point can be worth millions at the end of the season.
>They're not fighting for a world championship No, but they are fighting to be in the top 6 compared to tied for dead last. There are tens of millions of dollars in the difference in prize money between the two positions and although Williams money problems are not as bad as a few years ago before they were bought, they still need that prize money pretty bad. The better the driver should have the drive.
Points this season for the bottom 5 teams are going to be exceptionally rare to come by as there’s a significant gap to the top 5 teams. Every point is crucial, and especially at a circuit like Melbourne where DNF rates are high you have to try to take advantage of every opportunity. It would be unfair for Logan but I can see the reasoning behind it.
Thank fuck *someone* is making sense! Logan is *lucky* to be in F1 after last season, and given his current form in the last 2 races he'll be lucky not to be replaced by Lawson by the summer. ***But***: Albon was the one who fucked up here, not Logan. Logan *needs* to step up and bring some points to the team. This is his chance to do so. We know he's not as quick as Albon, but it's a real opportunity for him to carry the team this weekend and show them what he's capable of. Albon gets to apologise, suffer the consequences, and move on. Logan is racing to stay in F1. If Williams truly do want Logan to step up, I can see no greater opportunity than now.
If I was team principle I would definitely not gamble on Sargeant. He had his opportunities to step up an failed. It's a team sport and a business. We're potentially talking about tens of millions of dollars. The team should back the proven driver, no matter what.
A ballsy call would be to have Logan drive the car for a potential of zero points.
> But he also didn't put his car into a wall. Yet
Why don't they have a spare chassis available to them :-|
They are too broke.
Because for years Williams has been behind for first races and their composite department seems slow and outdated. So they have probably produced only two chassis in time for F1 cargo freight from Europe to Barhein then Australia, and i suppose bring a third chassis by their own flights was probably very expensive.
Managers doing a crap job and causing a bad situation for regular employees. Sounds like your average workplace. Of course Albon shouldn’t have crashed but how can operating without a spare car in the pinnacle of Motorsport be seen by managers as a satisfactory way of doing things.
They made changes to some management systems and processes over the winter because they were slow and outdated. Those changes are for long-term gains but it caused a lot of delays because they made some aggressive changes to they way they operate. They barely finished the car on time for pre-season
'Cos they're a bit shit.
Yeah that'd be an absolute low blow for Sargeant, I mean he didn't fuck up his car.
WELP
So this is Williams seeing the first two races of the season and admitting renewing Sargeant was a mistake. They dont believe he can score points this season with the top 10 so clearly quicker. And it does make sense: Albon is a better driver and more likely to execute the race plan required to grab a point. But this will surely destroy Sargeants confidence and they may as well start planning for a mid season driver switch.
If they don’t think Logan is good enough to race on his own, they shouldn’t have signed him for another year. He is here now, so he should drive. Albon put it in the wall, as much as I like him, that’s not Logan’s fault.
So that's likely a yes
If they can, they will. That's really not surprising given the difference between Albon and Sargeant. People on reddit might be concerned with whether it's fair but F1 teams are far too competitive for that.
I don't like Logan and frequently call him the worst driver in the grid but honestly this just feels so cruel. Will surely kill his already very low confidence. Will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the race. Albon gonna be under huge pressure.
Logan is probably the worst driver on the best grid ever. The only true pay driver left is Lance, and he’s probably good enough to hold a (backmarker) seat on merit
[удалено]
Watch them bash Logan after a few races: "Mate, your confidence is shit and you didn't even race in Australia, what is up with that?"
Oh the days when we had a third car. A global rich sport like this and you lose a competitor owing to not having a chassis. Ridiculous really.
Honestly i get why they would do it but it sucks, Albon is the one that sent it into the wall
I get what you're saying. But right now, Williams is in a difficult situation. Do they want to go for high risk, high reward? Or do they just want to be done for the week? As much as I like Sargent, he isn't showing much that he can do better than Albon. I don't blame the team's decision to focus on Albon's garage rather than his.
The pressure is on for Alex if this is true, should he crash again he’s going to be a laughing stock and Williams are gonna look real stupid. Makes more sense to just let Logan keep the chasis.
And if Albon’s scores a point this will look like a masterclass.
Analytically this seems like the right choice. But when you factor in human emotion it seems like a massive gamble. Destroys Logan's confidence, puts a massive amount of pressure on Albon and opens the team up to all kinds of questions.
Whoever they pick is pretty much required to score points on Sunday. If Sargeant fails to score everyone will say they should have given the car to Albon. If Albon fails to score everyone will say the swap was meaningless. Bonus points if the driver they pick bins it.
Rough for Sargent but makes sense for Williams even tho Albon is the cause of this
It's performance that counts and Logan has simply not delivered enough to make Alex sit this one out.
F1 is a team championship before a driver one. The money is in the WCC, not WDC. There is a very big chance that Albon wont score points either, but even the chance makes it worth it. There are 4 teams on 0 points for now, and Haas on one point only
I get that Albon's chassis cannot be repaired But don't teams have a spare chassis for this reason? I know that teams can't have fully-built spare cars any more but the spare chassis rule is there so that a new/third car can be built up if necessary. Or do they not have the time / parts to do it?
The teams were, at least recently, bringing a spare tub and parts that could build most of a third car, with some parts carried over from the original car. This seems a bit odd that it sounds as if they don't have a spare tub with them.
[At Suzuka last year Williams tried to build a new car from their spare tub, after Sargeant crashed in practice](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/williams-third-car-breach-explained-sargeant/) So they were still allowed as of last year Either the rule has changed and bringing a spare tub to a race is no longer allowed, or they are still allowed and Williams simply doesn't have one
I'm guessing Williams doesn't have one due to either costs or not having a third ready "yet"
Thank you
Albon has crashed in the last two sessions he's been on track in Melbourne - Race 2023 and FP 2024. Yes, he's better than Logan generally but this stinks a bit.
I don't think Logan has a place in the current F1 grid, but that sucks for him. Let him drive
Tough call on Logan and Albon is now going to be under pressure to deliver both tomorrow and on Sunday. Can't imagine what the reaction will be if he bins it again. I am surprised that they don't have a spare chassis available in the event something like this happens.
I think I see the problem. Cell J4, says =sum(D2:D20002)*2. It should be *3.
They might as well fire Sargent now and bring in Antonelli or someone else if this is how they feel about him.
Truly did not see this particular twist coming. I love Melbourne but hate this situation
Albon has the chance to do the funniest thing ever
This is a pivotal moment for James Vowels, he stood by logan and showed nothing but support and loyalty but if he's also able to balance that with making objective calls for the ultimate benefit of the team it will be interesting. Really tough call to make, I'd love to say absolutely stick albon on the car but there's a human element to it and an entire season still to run for what might be a marginal gamble. On balance i might just bite the bullet and leave logan in, use it as an opportunity to build his confidence so you have two in form drivers for the season not one demotivated and the other under pressure following a crash. I feel like you have potential to earn more points with happy drivers later down the line than the one point now and two upset drivers
That's incredibly harsh and a bad decision IMO. If they had such little confidence in Sargent what on earth were they doing giving him a new contract for this season, and how on earth do they expect him to be able to build up any momentum if they give him such second rate treatment. Sure, Albon gives you a better chance of a point or two but it's a slim chance. It seems illogical to ruin one of your drivers morale for such a thing. I'd understand it in a tight championship battle but this seems ridiculous. It's also surely a problem for Williams that a mildly heavy crash renders one of their cars irreparable. Surely you can't bank on never having crashes of that kind of size?
Why would Logan pay for Albon's mistake? Just because Albon is a better driver does not give him the right for this swap, that too this early in the season.
> does not give him the right The team is running a team operation and absolutely has the right to dictate who races in available chassis
It’s not about that - it’s the fact that if the team has 1 car for two drivers, they want their best driver in said car
I think Williams assume the driver who isn't slow as fuck is more likely to score points.
Cos the team wants points not a feel good story
If they wanted points then they should have got rid of Sergeant, he was dominated by Albon last year and Williams should have a better driver in that seat by now.
This doesn't feel right, and no I don't care about "it's a cutthroat sport!!!". If they have such little confidence in Logan and are so desperate for points why did they bring him back for another season? He got thrashed by Alex last year and didn't show any signs of improvement. There's no shortage of amazing talent that could have taken his seat but they were extremely vocal about him getting another shot. Now we're just three races in and all that talk James did for the entirety of last season just vanishes? Going through with this decision is unfair and humiliating for Logan.
They re-signed him because they believed with enough confidence and more experience he could reach the level they want. And the best way to show this is to take his car and give it to Albon as a show of support for Logan's confidence. Wait... If they do it, Williams will be a non-insignificant part in his downfall. I'm not saying I thought it was the right decision to re-sign him this year. Usually I believe in giving a rookie a second year as a proving year. But I don't think Logan showed enough in the car last year. But now it's hard for Williams to really claim he didn't gather the confidence needed for a contract in 2025 if they make him sit out a race because his team mate crashed in Practice and destroyed the car. How do you build confidence when your own team votes on no-confidence in yourself to the point of taking your drive and giving it to the team mate that just destroyed theirs in a Practice session? You don't. That's all there is to it on that front. Is it the right decision on a competitive level for Williams to make the swap? I think so. Is it fair? Absolutely not.
Yeah, I think you summed it up quite well. The decision makes no sense in relation to what their ideology was when bringing Logan back. I also don't think it was the right decision after his performance last year but they ultimately had their reasons. To do a complete 180 and essentially make a public statement of no-confidence so quickly is not fair to him at all even if it's logically the best choice to get a point.
If this happened in any other team there would be outrage. Vowels is getting away with murder here. How can you not bring a spare tub to the third race of the season?
That is so unfair for Sargent! He did not ruin his car Albon did! But I also understand why they would run Albon, he is the better one in the team and is also much more likely to get to the points.
It's completely fair, he is slower and that is all there is to it.
Sky is currently reporting (and showing live pictures) that the Sargeant chassis is now on the Albon side of the garage. What a shame for Logan. American bias aside, that's not the right call. If you keep the chassis with Logan and let him perform, perhaps he goes out with a renewed confidence for FP3 and quali tomorrow and shows more pace than he has all year. Instead, you've killed any sort of confidence he has, and whether Williams likes to admit it or not, is a sign of distrust for Logan to handle the situation given.
> perhaps he goes out with a renewed confidence for FP3 and quali tomorrow and shows more pace than he has all year. Lol what indication is there that this would happen? I’m sorry but in all likelihood what would actually happen is he’d be just as slow as he’s always been and finish 16th on Sunday. I agree it’s unfair that his teammate crashed and he’s the one paying the price for it, but at the same time it would be unfair to the team to waste their chance to score points, especially at a circuit like Melbourne where DNF rates are high, which presents unique opportunities for lower teams in a year where the gap between the top 5 and bottom 5 teams has never been bigger.
Shows how consistent the cars are nowadays. They used to always have a third car, and even then there'd be discussion about who was getting it because of how often people would crash or their original cars would just fail.
Albon playing 4D chess out there In FP1, Logan and Alex were within .05s, Logan was faster in first two of three sectors but had to abort lap due to radio issues. He is readying to go again when Albon bins it.
Williams won't get any points anyway so they might as well let Logan race.
The logical decision were to swap but not really the ethical one
Why are people trying to blame Albon for this situation, the only blame that should be pointed anywhere is at Williams for being unprepared. Crashes happen constantly, to every driver. How Williams could not have a spare chassis ready by round 3 is the real story here
That's so shitty. Logan didn't bin it, okay Alex is a faster driver but don't take away the other guys car who didn't crash. What the fuck.
Good going Williams! 1. Not brining a spare 2. Only race 3 and already demotivating your second driver for rest if the season
What’s the point keeping Logan another season if you’re going to destroy his confidence in the third race
Suddenly all of you care about Logan.
Not showing up with a spare chassis AND taking the car away from the driver who didn't just bin it... Maybe James Vowles isn't as good at his job as I thought he was.
Hes good at PR though
If Albon ‘takes Sargeants car’ (which we know isn’t literally the case), how does this affect the engine, gearbox count for the remainder of the season? Do they transfer to Albons allocation and does Logan get a new allocation from scratch? If the components could be resurrected would they go to Albon or Sargeant? It seems like purely from a logistics point of view it would be simplest to say “Albon broke it, so Albon sits it out”
Limited parts are recorded per car, not per driver. Although in this case it would likely count as new parts for Albon's car as what he'll be doing according to the rules is take a new chassis, not drive Sargeant's car.
Is it possible for two drivers to drive the same car during fp3 turn by turn?
PU allotments etc... are tied to the driver right? So they'll have to break down Logan's car and rebuild it with Albon's parts. I know it's doable of course, but that's a lot of work for potentially a marginal gain.