"For heaven’s sake man, what has happened to Williams?": Eddie Jordan blasts the James Vowles-led squad for the chassis debacle in Australia

Eddie Jordan criticizes Williams
Eddie Jordan criticizes Williams' management after chassis fiasco in the 2024 F1 Australian GP (Collage via Sportskeeda)

Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan recently criticized Williams' management for not having an extra chassis during the 2024 F1 Australian GP.

During the race weekend at Albert Park, Alex Albon crashed his FW46 car into the wall during the first practice session. The crash was severe enough to break the car's chassis and gearbox to a point where it was unrepairable. Since the British team did not have an extra chassis for Albon, they decided to give him Logan Sargeant's car. This forced the American youngster to sit out of the Australian GP.

Speaking on Formula For Success, Eddie Jordan expressed his thoughts on how the prestigious British team was being managed. He exclaimed that the team needed someone to steer them in the right direction and that not having an extra chassis during a race weekend was unacceptable. Talking about the late Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head, Jordan claimed that Patrick was one of the people who could raise the team's overall performance.

“For heaven’s sake man, what has happened to Williams? Patrick [Head] and [Sir] Frank [Williams], of course, sadly, is no longer with us, but Patrick is often in Sardinia, we need him back. We need somebody back. It just needs direction. It’s impossible to accept that a team like Williams can go to a race, which they went to in Australia, with only the chassis that they had for the drivers, it’s unacceptable,” Jordan said (via PlanetF1).

Williams team boss on how hard it was to hand over Logan Sargeant's car to Alex Albon in the 2024 F1 Australian GP

After Alex Albon's massive crash during FP1 of the 2024 F1 Australian GP, his team released a video where team principal James Vowles explained the entire situation and why Logan Sargeant was dropped from the Grand Prix. He stated that dropping the American driver to favor Albon was one of the hardest decisions he ever made.

"I've made the decision for Logan not to be racing this weekend and for Alex to take the chassis and continue on behalf of Williams Racing on Saturday and Sunday. It's one of the hardest decisions I have made so far whilst here in this organisation," Vowles said.

Despite giving Sargeant's car to Alex Albon, the British team struggled at Albert Park as Alex Albon was only able to qualify for P12 and finished the race in P11, not scoring any points for himself or the team.

Quick Links