Williams breathed a sigh of relief on Friday after the chassis of Logan Sargeant’s car survived a heavy crash in practice at the Japanese Grand Prix, a sign that the team should be able to avoid another race where they can field only one driver.
The American did not race in the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago as his more experienced team mate Alexander Albon wrecked his chassis in the opening practice and then took Sargeant’s car for the race as the team does not have a spare.
At the Suzuka circuit on Friday, Sargeant slammed his car into a trackside tyre wall in the first free practice session and did not emerge in a second session blighted by wet weather.
“The chassis is okay, fortunately,” team boss James Vowles told reporters. “But I would say pretty much everything else isn’t: so suspension all round, gearbox cracked, big damage.
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“We will obviously do our utmost to try and get the car back out there again.”
Vowles dismissed suggestions Sargeant may have been pushing too hard to prove a point after Melbourne.
“(He) wanted to get back into the car and get going but not with the intention of proving to the world that he deserves a seat,” said Vowles.
“What you saw here was not a driver making a mistake because they were pushing to the limits ... He just didn’t know where the car was on the track.”
Vowles said they would also be without a spare chassis in the next race in China but would have one after that in Miami.
Sargeant said the crash had been down to a “silly error” and was looking forward to getting back on track on Saturday.
“I left the team with some damage but fortunately got away better than it could have been,” he added.
Alpine team boss Bruno Famin also confirmed his team are without a spare chassis at Suzuka but will have one in Shanghai.
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