F1 News: Logan Sargeant Withdrawn From Australian GP To Make Way For Alex Albon

Logan Sargeant has been withdrawn from the Australian Grand Prix after his teammate Alex Albon crashed during FP1. 

The damage caused to Albon’s FW46 chassis was irreparable and the team has not got a spare available. The team has therefore made the decision to put Albon in Sargeant’s car for the remainder of the weekend in order to maximise the chances of bringing home points. 

Albon lost control of the FW46 during the first free practice session before colliding with the wall. Thankfully, the Thai-British driver was not harmed by the impact. The Williams team got to work on the car in an effort to make any necessary repairs in time for FP2, however, they later confirmed that this would not be achievable.

Team principal James Vowles commented on the situation, thanking Sargeant for accepting the decision:

“The chassis will be returned to Grove for repair.

“Due to the fact that a third chassis in unavailable, the team can confirm that it has taken the decision for Alex to compete for the remainder of the weekend in the chassis that Logan Sargeant drove in FP1 and FP2.

“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.”

Albon acknowledged that “no driver would want to give up his seat” but noted that he cannot dwell on the situation and must look ahead to making the most out of the weekend for the team. He explained:

“I have to be totally honest and say that no driver would want to give up his seat. 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 maximise our potential this weekend and work with the whole team to make sure we do the best job possible.”

Sargeant also explained:

“This is the hardest moment I can remember in my career and it’s absolutely not easy.

“I am however completely here for the team and will continue to contribute in any way that I can this weekend to maximise what we can do.”