How an F1 team's disastrous Japanese GP could hurt the rest of their season

F1 News

How an F1 team's disastrous Japanese GP could hurt the rest of their season

A nightmare Japanese GP does not bode well for Williams, whose 2024 season has not gone to plan.

Originally written by Sheona Mountford. This version is a translation.

Monday 8 April 2024 16:00

A poor result for Williams at the Japanese GP may come back to haunt them later in the 2024 season.

A FP1 crash from Alexander Albon in Australia forced team principal James Vowles to replace Logan Sargeant with Albon, due to the lack of a spare chassis.

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Their woes have continued in Japan as a first lap incident between Daniel Ricciardo and Albon sent both drivers into the wall.

As Ricciardo looked to his left to cover off Lance Stroll, he neglected Albon to his right, the pair touching wheels and ending their race.

Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon crash out at the Japanese GP 2024

Vowles reveals Albon car condition

Williams’ spare chassis dilemma has indicated their lack of infrastructure, with concerns about Albon’s car going into the Chinese GP.

“They’ve taken some pictures of it. Let’s see how bad it is when we get the [car back to the factory]. It looks like it’s repairable to me, but that was through images taken,” James Vowles said according to the F1 website.

“The way the tyre [from the barrier] went under the car, it ripped the car, so the car went from a good amount of speed to zero very quickly, I’m just worried. I didn’t get a good look at it because it’s under the tyres, but hopefully it’s okay.”

“The updates that were on the car unfortunately are broken, so we’ve got to build those stocks back up and get going again,” Vowels added.

“I think take any team, to have three major accidents where you’ve pretty much taken out all equipment on the car is enormous.

“Taking that across a season, you can deal with it, taking it across just a few races is difficult. The impact of it will be what you expect.

“We’re making spares as quickly as possible in the background, but ultimately performance will have an impact on it, we can’t bring as many updates [later in the year].”

Daniel Ricciardo Williams Lance Stroll Logan Sargeant James Vowles Alexander Albon