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Williams team principal James Vowles called it 'one of the hardest decisions' to replace Logan Sargeant with Alex Albon for the 2024 F1 Australian Grand Prix.
After suffering from a tremendous crash in FP1 earlier today, Albon's car #23 car was seemingly out of shape. The team feared a damaged chassis since they did not bring a spare to Melbourne for the race. The chassis is a part of the car that cannot be repaired overnight by engineers, and in case of such a crash, the car is usually unfit to run for the rest of the weekend or the race.
This turned out to be the case for Albon's car, whose chassis and gearbox were damaged beyond repair, as Vowles revealed in a video released by the team.
The team decided to let Alex Albon run the rest of the weekend in Logan Sargeant's car, while the latter will be sacrificed and not take part in the race. Calling it one of the "hardest decisions" he had ever made, James Vowles revealed in the video that he had to prioritize the team:
"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."
He added that the midfield is "incredibly tight" currently, and the smallest of differences can affect the overall result, and hence he had to prioritize the team and let Albon have the chance in Sargeant's car.
"The midfield is so incredibly tight that a point or two or more may make the difference at the end of the season between being 10th or being sixth. The spread of our cars at the moment is milliseconds. And as much as it pains me to see a driver that through no fault of their own, won't be racing on Sunday, I have to prioritize the team above all else."
Alex Albon feels Williams could be a championship-winning team soon
Williams Racing is one of the most successful teams in the history of F1. However, they haven't been so impressive on the track in recent years. With the team finishing the season at the bottom in 2022, it was apparent that a lot stood ahead of them.
After James Vowles left his role at Mercedes to become the team principal of this outfit in 2023, the situation got seemingly better. Alex Albon scored 27 points in the season, combined with Logan Sargeant's one point, bringing the team to seventh place in the championship.
Albon's hopes for the team are much higher, however. The Project asked him when Williams would become a championship-winning team, to which he replied:
"Truthfully, around two or three years."
Speculations have surrounded Alex Albon about moving to a different team in the future, but he has repeatedly denied it, showcasing his loyalty to Williams.
