Logan Sargeant Will Use Albon's Repaired Williams Chassis Until Miami
The fallout from Alex Albon's crash ahead of the Australian Grand Prix will continue for two more races, and the impact will once again fall on Albon's teammate, Logan Sargeant. The team will not complete a new chassis until the Miami Grand Prix in May, so Sargeant will race in the slightly heavier repaired chassis in Japan this weekend.
RACER reports that the repaired chassis Sargeant will race is just 100 grams, or less than a quarter of a pound, heavier than it would have been before the crash. That makes the difference between performance potential in the two cars relatively minor, but Sargeant will have to adapt to the slightly altered repaired chassis rather than stick with the car he ran in the first two races of the season.
While the decision once again leaves Sargeant suffering for Albon's crash, the logic behind the move is sound. Williams has yet to score a point this season, but Albon out-scored his rookie teammate 27 to 1 last year and remains the team's best hope to beat out currently slower entries from Alfa Romeo and Alpine before either team has a chance to catch up to Williams on pace as they develop their cars. Albon now has finishes of 15th, 11th, and 11th, and a larger penalty to Fernando Alonso after Australia would have awarded him a point last time out in Melbourne. By giving him the better car, Williams is optimizing their chances to score the precious one or two that can make all the difference for teams at the back of the grid at the end of the year.
Still, it is disappointing news for Sargeant. His Formula 1 career may not be off to a strong start, but Williams brought him to the series as a young driver with the intent to develop him into a winner, and moving him out of the car for one race before giving him a lesser chassis in another does not help that cause. The team says that a spare chassis should be available at Miami, so Sargeant could return to a better car then. Until then, both Sargeant and Albon must be mindful that any major crash could spell the end of a race weekend.
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