FILE PHOTO: Williams Racing Formula One F1 driver Logan Sargeant speaks to members of the media as he attends the Williams FW46 car unveiling and launch event ahead of the 2024 F1 season in New York City, New York, U.S., February 5, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - Williams are confident they will be back up to strength with two cars at next week's Japanese Grand Prix, after having only one in Australia last Sunday due to crash damage, but will still have no spare.
Logan Sargeant had to sit out the race in Melbourne after more experienced team mate Alex Albon, the effective number one driver, wrecked his car in practice and was then given the American's due to the lack of a third chassis.
Team principal James Vowles said in a debrief posted on the website that both drivers would be racing at Suzuka.
"I'm confident we'll be able to fix the (damaged) chassis," he said. "We put measures in place to make sure the chassis was back here (at the factory in England) pretty early on Monday morning, I think it arrived at around 2 a.m."
Vowles said it was then immediately stripped down and repairs carried out.
"In Suzuka we'll have two cars without too many issues," he added.
"We won't have a spare chassis in Japan. The original plan before the season started was to have three chassis as you would expect at round one and that gently slipped towards round three as items became more and more delayed.
"Since then, and especially with the work we're doing now on chassis number two, there is again going to be a small amount of delay. That said, we will have a (third) chassis soon."
Vowles said building a chassis was thousands of hours of work in the composites department and one of the biggest jobs within a Formula One team.
Williams, seventh overall in 2023 with Albon taking 27 of their 28 points, have yet to score in three races so far this season.
Vowles expected the bottom five teams to be in a tight battle through the season, with the top five filling most of the points places.
He said prioritising Albon over Sargeant in Melbourne had been by far his hardest decision in Formula One but the correct one on performance.
"The whole world has seen where we are in reality and how far behind we are and what work we have to do to move forward," he added of the Melbourne situation.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
