F1 News: Logan Sargeant To Race The Japanese GP In Repaired FW46 As Spare Car Is Delayed

Saajan Jogia | Apr 4, 2024

Oct 21, 2023; Austin, Texas, USA; Williams Racing driver Logan Sargeant (2) of Team USA drives / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

With no spare F1 car available until the Miami Grand Prix, Williams driver Logan Sargeant has confirmed that he will be racing in the repaired FW46 F1 car at Suzuka this weekend, the same car that his teammate Alex Albon crashed in Melbourne.

Key Takeaways:

• Williams driver Logan Sargeant will compete in the Suzuka race with the repaired FW46 F1 car, as the team lacks a spare car until the Miami Grand Prix, following teammate Alex Albon's crash in Melbourne.
• Albon's Melbourne crash led to Sargeant's missed racing opportunities and prompted the repair of the damaged car. Consequently, Sargeant was unable to participate in the race.
• Despite the repair of the damaged monocoque, Williams anticipates not having a spare tub until Miami. This situation necessitates Sargeant's continued use of the repaired ex-Albon car due to time constraints for chassis refitting.

Williams put Albon in Sargeant's car in Australia to improve its chances of scoring points
after he crashed his FW46 during FP1, thus depriving the American driver of a chance to race. The damaged car was flown back to the UK for a detailed analysis and repair.

Williams Racing drivers Alexander Albon, left, and Logan Sargeant, right wave to the crowd during / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /

Although Williams has managed to repair the damaged monocoque, it does not expect to have a spare tub available until the race in Miami, scheduled for the 5th of May. As a result, Sargeant will continue to drive the repaired ex-Albon car, as the team is constrained by time in refitting the chassis. Offering an update, Sargeant told the media:

“It's the repaired one.

“Just because the workload to switch the cars back over would just be far too much for the mechanics. But the chassis repair went better than expected.”

Sargeant explained that there has been no clarification from Williams on how it would deal with a similar situation if it were to repeat. He added:

“It's, again, a situation that 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 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.”

May 6, 2023; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Williams driver Logan Sargeant (2) of the United States / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

The car exchange incident in Melbourne brought to Sargeant's attention the issue of a shortage of spare parts within the Williams team. He explained:

“I don't think we really, at least I, hadn't thought about it before that.

“If I'm honest, when I see Alex crash, the first thing that goes through my head is, ‘I know that we're down on spares’.

“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 this season - not having those big safety nets.

“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.”