Tag: Williams

Sargeant gets repaired chassis; Williams without spare until Miami

Logan Sargeant will use the repaired Williams chassis at the Japanese Grand Prix, as the team is not likely to have a spare until Miami next month. Alex Albon’s crash in FP1 in Melbourne exposed Williams’ lack of a third chassis, with the team …

Logan Sargeant will use the repaired Williams chassis at the Japanese Grand Prix, as the team is not likely to have a spare until Miami next month.

Alex Albon’s crash in FP1 in Melbourne exposed Williams’ lack of a third chassis, with the team opting to give Sargeant’s car to Albon for the rest of the race weekend and withdraw the Floridian. The damaged chassis was repaired back at the factory and is ready for the upcoming race in Japan, but Sargeant says there won’t be a back-up in Suzuka or at the next race in China.

“It’s the repaired one, just because the workload to switch the cars back over would be far too much for the mechanics,” Sargeant said of his designated chassis for this weekend. “But the chassis repair went better than expected, so it should be perfectly normal as far as I’m aware. [The spare] should be ready for Miami.”

The repaired chassis is an estimated 100 grams heavier as a result of the work done on it, but Sargeant said the lack of a third option will not play on his mind this weekend.

“I don’t think we had really… at least, I hadn’t thought about it before that,” he said of the lack of a spare. “When I see Alex crash, the first thing that goes through my head is I know we’re down on spares and it’s going to back us up.

“Of course I was a little bit concerned for where we stood as a team, but it’s one of the hard parts that we’ve had to deal with through the start of the season, not having those big safety nets. I think it’s somewhere that as a team we’re really trying to develop to be better and get more on top of that early in the season.

“It’s a situation we had to deal with through the first three races. We went to Saudi with the same situation and of course it’s one of those things that you know you have to be careful, but at the same time, you can’t be. It’s Formula 1 — if you’re careful, you’re nowhere. So it’s really not even a question. You have to be committed, confident and hope nothing goes wrong!”

Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

After dealing with the blow of being unable to race in Melbourne due to Williams team principal James Vowles’ decision to switch the chassis between drivers, Sargeant says he managed to recharge with a spell in Bali and gain perspective of how best to respond.

“I think it’s an absolute necessity a lot of times in the year to be able to find those little gaps to get away from it, be with people who help fill you with energy and keep you going through the season,” he said. “I wouldn’t relate that just to a situation like Melbourne — I think it’s just how you have to break up the season.

“The funny part of that is I probably feel better psychologically. After having a week away, you see things from a different perspective. I’ve had a decent start to the year, it hasn’t shown up in quali yet — I think it would have in Melbourne — so I’m just continuing with that mindset that I’m close to where I need to be. It’s gonna start this weekend.”

Blame for Williams chassis issue is on me – Vowles

Williams team principal James Vowles says he has to take the blame for the lack of a spare chassis that left the team with just one car racing in the Australian Grand Prix. Alex Albon’s crash in FP1 damaged his chassis, and with Williams still yet …

Williams team principal James Vowles says he has to take the blame for the lack of a spare chassis that left the team with just one car racing in the Australian Grand Prix.

Alex Albon’s crash in FP1 damaged his chassis, and with Williams still yet to have manufactured a spare, it was left to the team to decide which of the two drivers would get to compete in the rest of the race weekend. Vowles opted to withdraw Logan Sargeant, leaving Albon to take over his teammate’s car and finish 11th in the race. But after describing the situation as “unacceptable,” Vowles says he takes responsibility.

“It lies on me, there’s nowhere else it should ever stop,” Vowles told Speed City Broadcasting. “We’ve changed so much technology within the factory — we’ve changed how we design and produce the chassis, we’ve changed how we do things aerodynamically, we’ve changed how we add performance, how we do upgrades…

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“We’ve added process; we’ve added at the same time we’re going to do three cars — not one car — and you would imagine that stretches an organization to the limit.

“In the beginning of the year we were very open and honest — we were so late on the car because we changed so much, and one of the outcomes of that is we couldn’t make an additional chassis. You can’t move forward unless you are prepared to take some massive risks, and we did. But the outcome of it is you play with fire, and that caught us out.”

Shortly after Albon’s crash, Vowles couldn’t guarantee the damaged chassis would be repaired for the following race in Japan, but now believes the required work should be completed in plenty of time.

“I’m confident that we’ll be able to fix the chassis,” he said. “We put measures in place to ensure the chassis was back here very early on Monday morning — I think arrived around 2am or so — and since then there was already crews inside the building working on that, stripping it down and doing repairs.

“We’re in a good place for having the chassis back early enough for Suzuka. A lot of the work’s done actually back in Melbourne; there were photographs and techniques called NDT — non-destructive testing — there’s various ones you can do there, but it allows us to fully understand how big the damage is and what we have to do.

“And that preparation is key. What it meant was already at 2am on Monday, work could start. It wasn’t then a reflection on what was happening, it was more, ‘This is what we’re doing and this is how we execute it.’ So in Suzuka we’ll have two cars without too many issues.”

Williams Esports wins iRacing 12 Hours of Sebring

The first rain-affected iRacing Special Event took place this past weekend. Williams Esports Chillblast won in GTP and LMP2, while Drago Racing won the GTD class. The Sebring International Raceway was dry when the session opened for practice and …

The first rain-affected iRacing Special Event took place this past weekend. Williams Esports Chillblast won in GTP and LMP2, while Drago Racing won the GTD class.

The Sebring International Raceway was dry when the session opened for practice and qualifying, but rain began to fall in the closing minutes of qualifying.

Learn more about the recent rain update in iRacing.

GTP

From P3 on the grid, Josh Lad navigated the wet conditions to gain a position at the start in the No.6 Acura ARX-06 GTP Williams Esports Chillblast car.

Luke Bennet in the No.11 Team Redline Acura started on pole position. He headed the GTP field until the end of the second hour when he crashed at Sunset Bend as the track was drying out. The damage was extensive, and the team eventually retired, while the No.6 Chillblast was promoted into the race lead.

The other Team Redline car also crashed out in the same corner with Florian Lebigre behind the wheel of the No.21 Acura.

Atte Kauppinen jumped aboard the No.6 Chillblast car after a mighty four-hour stint by Lad. With seven hours to go, the rain came again and drivers switched onto the wet weather tires.

The NO.6 car had no dramas for the remainder of the race. They crossed the line 36 seconds ahead of the runner-up No.8 VRS Coanda Porsche 963, followed by the #1 Williams Esports BenQ Acura.

LMP2

The No.55 Williams Esports Chillblast car won in LMP2 with Carl Jansson and Kenneth Gulbrandsen sharing the Dallara P217.

Jansson started fifth and quickly moved up through the field. The Swedish driver had much more confidence and control in the wet conditions, which allowed him to make up four positions in the first hour.

The No.003 Grid-and-Go.com Esports car started the race on pole position, but Gabriel Streitmatter lacked pace, and it was clear that the No.199 Apex Racing Team car was closing the gap.

After 20 minutes, Michele Constantini in the No.199 and Jansson in the No.55 passed Streitmatter. It seemed that the battle would be between Williams and Apex for the lead before the first pit stop. Jansson took the lead after stint one and kept it until stint two.

Constantini stayed in touch with Jansson until he boxed and handed the car over to his teammate Stanley Deslandes as the track was drying out.

Both the No.55 of Jansson and the No.199 of Deslandes were on slick tires, and the track was still damp when Deslandes lost control in the same corner as the GTP cars of Team Redline. The LMP2 spun off violently into the wall and sustained quite a lot of damage. They pitted as a result and rejoined four laps down.

The No.55 Chillblast spent the rest of the race out in front, and even when the second round of rain fell, they pulled out a one lap lead on their rivals to win after 12 hours.

GTD

Williams Esports BenQ led the field from pole position, Parker White kept their advantage in the No.13 Audi for the first two and half hours of the race.

Then it was Louis Nahser’s turn in the car, and he drove well until the No.13 disconnected from the session with about eight hours to go. They rejoined in eighth.

With both Team Redline cars out in GTP, and no LMP2 cars running for them, it was up to the two GTD entries to get a result. The No.70 of Gustavo Ariel and Gianni Vecchio started in seventh, but quickly dropped back after an early mistake by Ariel in the wet.

The No.71 Team Redline Audi driven by Josh Thompson pushed through the tricky conditions of hour one to seventh before the first pit stops. Ariel managed to recover the No.70 from 16th to ninth after his early troubles.

The battle from about the halfway point until the checkered flag was between the No.2 Drago Racing Audi, the No.70 Team Redline Audi, and the No.10 Mahle Racing Team Lamborghini.

With 3 hours and 20 minutes to go, the No.2 of Manuel Troncoso was leading the No.10 of Rainer Talvar and the No.70 of Ariel. A lapped Audi tagged and spun the No.10 Mahle Lamborghini, which handed the second position to Ariel and Team Redline in the No.70.

Gianni Vecchio closed out the race for Redline in the No.70. He managed to stay in touch with the No.2 Drago Racing Audi, but Nicolas Mateo finished the job and won for Drago Racing. Vecchio came in second by five seconds, followed by Talvar in the No.10 who finished 30 seconds behind in third place.

Most of the action and overtakes took place during the first two hours of this 12-hour iRacing Special Event. The rain came at the start, then the track slowly dried, only for the wet conditions to return. The race finished under dry and nighttime conditions.

Williams Esports celebrated wins and podiums in GTP and LMP2, but they will wonder what could have been without the disconnection for the No.13 Audi in GTD.

 

Full faith in Sargeant, but repairs uncertain before Suzuka – Vowles

Williams team principal James Vowles says he has full faith in Logan Sargeant despite giving his car to Alex Albon at the Australian Grand Prix, but cannot guarantee the team will have the second chassis repaired in time for the next race in Japan. …

Williams team principal James Vowles says he has full faith in Logan Sargeant despite giving his car to Alex Albon at the Australian Grand Prix, but cannot guarantee the team will have the second chassis repaired in time for the next race in Japan.

Albon crashed in Friday practice in Melbourne and damaged his chassis to the point it couldn’t be repaired at the track, and is returning to the UK. Unusually at this point in the season, Williams does not yet have a spare chassis manufactured, so the decision was taken to give Sargeant’s car to Albon and withdraw the American from the rest of the race weekend. However, Vowles insists it doesn’t show a lack of faith in Sargeant.

“No, I don’t think that’s the case,” Vowles said. “The fact I re-signed him shows you I have faith in him. This year I think you’ve seen he’s been closer to Alex than before.

“However, I have one car, and just one car. There are five very fast teams taking up those top ten positions and there’s no points apart from if you’re in the top ten. There’s one point separating the bottom five teams at the moment, so every point will make a difference between now and the end of the year.

“In that regard, you therefore put your money on the driver who this year has been slightly ahead of the other one, which is Alex. So I’ve reset everything. Taken a view from Bahrain, taken a view from Saudi and taken a view from here which of the two drivers was more likely to score a point.”

Explaining how Williams ended up without a spare chassis even at the third round of the season, Vowles admits it’s due to the changes he is trying to implement in the team.

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“When I started in February last year, the plan was to have three chassis at round one. As we went through large changes in organization, adding performance and technology changes on the back end and processes, we started to push out fundamentally certain elements of things.

“There’s a finite amount of resources and, as we were going through an inefficient structure and making transformation at the same time, we started to cause problems. Those problems, before, could have translated to adding metal components or adding last year’s rear wings.

“In this particular case, the third chassis started to get delayed and delayed and delayed, and I think one of the things were were transparent about both in Bahrain but also on the BBC podcast that we did, we were very late with these cars — very, very late. We pushed everything to the absolute limit.

“The fallout of that is we didn’t have a spare chassis. Even then it was intended to be coming here at round three, but it got delayed and delayed again as other items got pushed back as a result.

“Without doubt, if we go back to root cause, it’s the fact that we’ve added significant processes. We’ve completely changed how we make a chassis. I think I described it the other week in Bahrain that there’s almost 10 times the amount of parts in a chassis compared to last year.

“That’s a level of complexity that takes an organization to a new level. But the ramifications aren’t [that] the third chassis is any more difficult to make. We’ve already made two. It’s more that the knock-on effect from all the work that we’ve done that pushed everything very late has pushed everything else very late.”

When pushed on if he could guarantee that Williams would have the second chassis repaired in time for the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks’ time — with the car set to return to the UK on Monday and the third chassis further delayed — Vowles admits there remains an element of uncertainty.

“Until the chassis is back in the UK and they’ve properly inspected it from not just photos that we have, and NDT (non-destructive testing) that we have here, but properly get into it, no one can give you 100 percent certitude.

“What I can tell you is based on the evidence that we have so far and the work that’s completed overnight, everything looks completely feasible. I’ve seen chassis in worse states come back from this. 100 percent is a difficult number to give you, and as a statistics man I wouldn’t say 100 percent, but I would say there is a very high probability it will all be fine.”

Sargeant calls Melbourne withdrawal ‘hardest moment in my career’

Logan Sargeant describes having his entry sacrificed by Williams at the Australian Grand Prix as “the hardest moment I can remember in my career.” The American will not take part in the rest of the race weekend in Melbourne because Williams does not …

Logan Sargeant describes having his entry sacrificed by Williams at the Australian Grand Prix as “the hardest moment I can remember in my career.”

The American will not take part in the rest of the race weekend in Melbourne because Williams does not have a spare chassis, and Alex Albon’s crash in FP1 damaged his to the extent that it can’t be repaired away from the team’s factory. With just one usable chassis between two drivers, Williams made the decision to allow Albon (pictured at right, above, with Sargeant) to take over Sargeant’s car, leaving the 23-year-old to watch from the sidelines.

“This is the hardest moment I can remember in my career and it’s absolutely not easy,” Sargeant said. “I am, however, completely here for the team and will continue to contribute in any way that I can this weekend to maximize what we can do.”

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Albon admits he is finding the situation tough himself, but says he needs to reset to try and repay Williams’ faith with a strong performance over the remainder of the weekend.

“I have to be totally honest and say that no driver would want to give up his seat,” Albon said. “I would never want anything like this to happen. Logan has always been a consummate professional and a team player from day one, and this won’t be an easy one for him to take.

“At this point, though, I cannot dwell on the situation and my only job now is to maximize our potential this weekend and work with the whole team to make sure we do the best job possible.”

Williams team principal James Vowles called it “unacceptable in modern day Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis” after seeing his team reduced to one car, with Williams behind on its car build over the winter as new processes and software were put in place.

Albon will not take a penalty for the Australian race as it stands, although any power unit component changes will only be confirmed when the car hits the track for the first time during FP3 on Saturday.

Williams situation ‘unacceptable in modern day Formula 1’ – Vowles

Williams team principal James Vowles says the situation that led to Alex Albon taking over Logan Sargeant’s car at the Australian Grand Prix is “unacceptable in modern day Formula 1,” but also a symptom of the circumstances the team is currently …

Williams team principal James Vowles says the situation that led to Alex Albon taking over Logan Sargeant’s car at the Australian Grand Prix is “unacceptable in modern day Formula 1,” but also a symptom of the circumstances the team is currently facing.

Albon crashed heavily in FP1 and sustained damage to his chassis that could not be repaired ahead of Saturday, but Williams does not have a spare and so has been left with one car for the rest of the race weekend. As a result, it has decided to withdraw Sargeant from the event so that Albon can take over his teammate’s car, and Vowles says the team should not have left itself in such a position.

“We are hugely disappointed that the damage sustained to the chassis has meant we need to withdraw it from the weekend,” Vowles said. “It’s unacceptable in modern day Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis, but it is a reflection of how behind we were in the winter period and an illustration of why we need to go through significant change in order to get ourselves in a better position for the future. As a result, we have had some very difficult decisions to make this afternoon.

“While Logan should not have to suffer from a mistake that he did not make, every race counts when the midfield is tighter than ever, so we have made the call based on our best potential to score points this weekend.

“This decision was not made lightly, and we cannot thank Logan enough for his graceful acceptance, demonstrating his dedication to the team; he is a true team player. This will prove a tough weekend for Williams, and this situation is not one that we will put ourselves in again.”

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Albon scored 27 points for Williams last season as it finished seventh in the constructors’ championship, with Sargeant scoring one 10th place in his rookie year. Melbourne also saw an impressive qualifying performance from Albon last year as he lined up eighth on the grid, although a crash — at the same corner as Friday’s incident — when running sixth cost him a chance of significant points.

The damaged chassis will now be returned to Williams’ headquarters in Grove, UK, for repairs ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in two weeks’ time.

UPDATE: Albon to take over Sargeant’s Williams at Australian GP

UPDATE, 6AM ET: Williams has now confirmed that it will have to withdraw the car crashed by Alex Albon in the opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix. Albon will take over Logan Sargeant’s car for the remainder of the weekend. More …

UPDATE, 6AM ET: Williams has now confirmed that it will have to withdraw the car crashed by Alex Albon in the opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix. Albon will take over Logan Sargeant’s car for the remainder of the weekend. More details to follow.

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Williams is down to one entry at the Australian Grand Prix after Alex Albon’s crash in FP1 that damaged his chassis, as the team lacks a spare this weekend.

Albon crashed exiting Turn 6, the car bottoming out after he ran over the outside curb and hitting the wall on the inside of the track, before then sliding across to the opposite wall ensuring damage to three corners. The team soon confirmed that he would not be taking part in the second session as it analyzed the extent of the damage.

Williams then confirmed to RACER that it doesn’t have a spare chassis at this point in the season, meaning if the chassis cannot be repaired overnight then the team will be down to one car for the remainder of the Melbourne weekend.

“There’s not much that can be salvaged,” Albon said after FP2. “So we’re going through it now, looking at where the damage is. It’s going to be tricky, that’s for sure. Obviously very frustrating for that reason.”

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Explaining the crash, Albon says he was surprised by the car bottoming out again on landing back on track, after hitting the exit curb hard.

“Just exploring a little bit, went a bit wide, had a bit of an aggressive kind of curb strike and it lifted up the front. I honestly didn’t think anything of it at the time, I thought, ‘OK it’s fine, I’ll just back out and let the car land.’ But when I did land, I bottomed out pretty badly, and when it bottomed out, it just kind of spat me.

“So, frustrating. And obviously just feel bad for everyone back at the factory and here at the track. Did a lot of damage, so let’s see if we can get it repaired.”

Albon scored 27 points compared to a solitary point for teammate Logan Sargeant in 2023, and was running in sixth place in Australia last year when he crashed out of the race at the same corner. The Thai-British driver admits he is unsure if he could take over Sargeant’s car for the rest of the weekend if required.

Williams has yet to score this season, with Haas the only of the bottom five teams with a top ten in the opening two races courtesy of Nico Hulkenberg’s 10th place in Jeddah.

Fry wants Williams in F1 top-three fight within four years

New Williams chief technical officer Pat Fry wants the team to be breaking into the fight for podiums at the front of the field “in two, three, four years’ time” as he targets the organization becoming a championship contender. Fry (pictured above) …

New Williams chief technical officer Pat Fry wants the team to be breaking into the fight for podiums at the front of the field “in two, three, four years’ time” as he targets the organization becoming a championship contender.

Fry (pictured above) was brought in by team principal James Vowles last year and started work towards the end of the 2023 season, having had extensive experience at McLaren, Ferrari and Renault/Alpine. He joins a Williams team that finished seventh in the constructors’ standings and is investing in its facilities after years of struggling for resources prior to Dorilton Capital’s takeover, and he says it’s an exciting time to work at Grove that comes with ambitious targets.

“It is a team that’s moving forward,” Fry said. “There’s no point hiding behind the fact we’ve got a mountain of work to do and things to develop. But I think people will see that there’s a commitment there, and that commitment has to start right from the very top, which we have. And people will see us moving forward.

“The ultimate goal in the end is to be a sort of championship competitor. I mean in two, three, four years’ time, we need to be getting in the fight breaking into the top three. It’s a tough ask to do when your building from where we are, but I think it’s all possible.”

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Williams has 114 wins in F1, but none since Pastor Maldonado’s Spanish Grand Prix victory in 2012. Motorsport Images

While focusing on fighting for titles seems a long way off given where Williams currently is, Fry says it’s something that’s been drilled into him as a result of the team’s he’s been a part of in the past.

“I guess having worked with Ron [Dennis, former McLaren team principal], and second is the first or the losers. And having worked at Ferrari for five years where you celebrate winning, but nothing else, I’m kind of tainted in that way. So we need to build a space back to be a winning team.”

If the two-year target might seem particularly ambitious, it coincides with a change of technical regulations that Fry says offers the chance for the entire pecking order to be shaken up, even if the current Williams infrastructure still leaves it at a disadvantage.

“Rule changes are always an opportunity. To some degree, the bigger teams have always got better tools to start analyzing these things than we have, so we’ve got to be building and developing the tools that we need to actually try and work out what more specification that car should be.

“So I mean, we have got a lot of work on, but it’s certainly that first game-changing opportunity for us. So we need to be working to that as hard as we can.”

Williams coming to New York for season launch

Williams has announced that its season launch on Feb. 5 will take place in the United States, with the team heading to New York City. Last year saw both Red Bull and AlphaTauri carrying out launch-style events in New York, as teams tap into the …

Williams has announced that its season launch on Feb. 5 will take place in the United States, with the team heading to New York City.

Last year saw both Red Bull and AlphaTauri carrying out launch-style events in New York, as teams tap into the larger interest from American fans and companies in Formula 1. Williams is owned by Dorilton Capital, with the investment firm having offices in both New York and Houston as well as London, and is set to kick off the 2024 launches on the East Coast.

Given the timing of the event, it’s unlikely the team’s new car — the FW46 — itself will be unveiled, but the 2024 livery will be on display alongside returning drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant.

Williams has retained Sargeant as part of its pairing, after the Floridian showing improved form in the latter stages of 2023 and became the first American to score a point in F1 in 30 years when he was classified in the top ten at the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

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The 2024 Williams will be the first produced since James Vowles joined as team principal, having begun work in the position after last year’s car was complete, while chief technical officer Pat Fry started in November. Although Fry will have had limited influence on the FW46, he says Dorilton’s recent investments show Williams has momentum following its seventh-place finish in last year’s constructors’ championship.

“I think it is a team that’s moving forward, to be honest,” Fry said. “There’s no point hiding behind the fact we’ve got a mountain of work to do, and things to develop. But I think people will see that there’s a commitment there, and they’ll say that commitment has to start right from the very top, which we have. And people will see us moving forward.”

Williams and Sauber set for F1 launches on Feb. 5

The Williams and Sauber Formula 1 teams have both announced their 2024 season launches will take place on Feb. 5. The two teams follow Ferrari in confirming a launch date, with the Scuderia’s new car being unveiled on Feb. 13. The only details …

The Williams and Sauber Formula 1 teams have both announced their 2024 season launches will take place on Feb. 5.

The two teams follow Ferrari in confirming a launch date, with the Scuderia’s new car being unveiled on Feb. 13. The only details provided by the teams is that Sauber’s event will take place in London, and is likely to follow Williams with James Vowles’ team carrying out its launch earlier in the day.

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Williams is looking to follow an encouraging 2023 season that saw the team improve to finish seventh in the constructors’ championship, and recently confirmed Logan Sargeant will remain one of its two race drivers alongside Alex Albon.

For Sauber, it marks the first season following the end of its Alfa Romeo partnership, with the team officially being renamed as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber and its 2024 car to be known as the C44.

“Our team is working around the clock to produce an incredible show that will unleash our new team identity in full and bring back the ‘wow’ factor to our sport,” the team stated in its announcement of the launch date.