This was probably Williams‘ most disastrous weekend ever. Thanks to Alexander Albon’s accident, the team found itself forced to make an important decision. This resulted in Sargeant being excluded from the race to try and maximize points as much as possible.
Bitter-free practice for Williams
Williams found itself having to face a fairly complex and unexpected weekend. In fact, during the first free practice session, Alexander Albon ended up heavily against the wall. This caused great damage to the car. The situation then worsened when Williams deemed it impossible to repair the car. This is because Williams found itself without a new spare chassis. Alexander Albon risked seeing himself sitting on the bench, without the possibility of being able to compete. Instead, the opposite happened. Williams, in fact, after a difficult and controversial decision, decided to entrust Logan Sargeant’s FW46 to his teammate Alexander Albon. Thus leaving Sargeant on the sidelines.
In the statement released by Williams, James Vowels had this to say:
“We are hugely disappointed that damage to the chassis has forced us to withdraw it from the weekend. It is unacceptable in current Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis, but it is a consequence of how far behind we were in the winter period and an illustration of why we need to make significant changes to put ourselves in a better position for the future. As a result, we had to make some very difficult decisions this afternoon.”
Ups and downs qualifying for Williams
This was perhaps one of the doubly painful races for Alexander Albon. On one hand, the media pressure pointed out that the driver not only made a mistake by destroying the car but also found themselves lucky enough to be able to drive anyway, leaving his teammate on foot. On the other hand, the pressure from those who believe he could bring points home after the team has bet everything on him, sacrificing his teammate Logan Sargeant.
Alexander Albon managed to get a P12 during qualifying. The race was conditioned by moments of ups and downs and of fights and overtaking to at least try to get back into the points. Unfortunately, however, he crossed the finish line in eleventh place. For a few thousandths of a second, he came close to the points zone. Many sacrifices, many difficult choices which however did not bear fruit.
A race against time
Anyone who decides to enter the world of Formula One knows that it is always a race against time. There are moments that you cannot imagine and expect. Williams’ decision was something crucial, but the problem started from the top and they just had to adapt. Furthermore, in a small team like this, decisions like these are essential as they try to maximize points. And to do so, drastic decisions must be made. The team was widely criticized for allowing a driver who had damaged his car to race and take away his teammate’s seat. But exactly, how much blame can the team have?
The contradiction of the Formula One of today
What we should really focus on are the absurd regulations of the FIA, which are going to ruin the world of Motorsport. F1 is perhaps slowly establishing a lucrative model, increasingly putting small teams like this in difficulty. Can these drastic regulations still be defended? With budget caps, chassis limitations etc., after what we saw with Williams?
A sport that rejected a team like Andretti because they were deemed ”inadequate” but which then allows the teams currently on the grid to run without spare parts. So perhaps, instead of criticizing the drastic choices of a team in full difficulty, it is better to reflect on the real problem. A problem that comes from the root.
What happened should make everyone reflect a little. What we can hope for, however, is that the next race will be luckier than the previous ones for Williams.
