Vowles breaks Sargeant's confidence: 'for the well-being of Williams'

Team boss James Vowles made a harsh decision on Friday: Logan Sargeant will be out of action this weekend and must relinquish his Williams to teammate Alex Albon. The latter crashed so badly on Friday that the chassis of his own car was beyond repair, and Williams did not have a spare on hand. Vowles picked up some criticism for making the decision to leave Sargeant out.

Speaking to Ted Kravitz on Sky Sports, Vowles admitted that it really should not happen that an F1 team has no spare chassis. The original plan was also to start the season with three chassis. But that didn't work out: "And across the winter, everything became later and later and later to the extent that it was becoming more and more difficult to get two cars to Bahrain with enough spares that we can go running," the team boss explained.

"And at some point, you have to make decisions over, do we sacrifice spares? Do we sacrifice the spare chassis? What do we push back in the system? And the chassis is what we push back. Originally planned for round three. Still, you're playing with fire. That's two rounds that you could be without the chassis. And then, due to further problems and further delays, I got pushed back beyond here. That's where we are where we are today. It's unacceptable in any standard in modern day Formula One, but it's also now a visible element for where we are for Williams. We're nowhere near where we want to be."

Sargeant sacrificed for Albon

Kravitz then notes that it is a nice explanation but that it does not explain why Sargeant is not allowed to drive and Albon is. "So it's a fair reflection. Logan did nothing wrong across the first race and here this weekend. He hasn't put a foot wrong. He hasn't hurt the car or damaged the car in any way, shape or form. Points are only allocated for the top ten cars. That's it," stated Vowles.

"And right now, the difference between P6 to P7 is one point that was scored by Haas last weekend. And at the end of the season, we'll be talking, and I think you'll see a point or two would differentiate championship positions in the battle we're in. As a result of that, with just one car, I've got to put my best foot forward. Across this year, if I ignore last year, across this year, Alex has had the leading edge over Logan at every single event. And with just one car, you put your best statistical chance of scoring a point in, because every point will make a difference."

Given the balance of power in Formula 1, Williams would have no chance of a point if Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin finish. At the same time, Sargeant's confidence takes a hit, and the team's US sponsors are bound to be unhappy. Vowles says he is all for it.

"I wouldn't have made the decision if it wasn't worth it. You've brought up some fair risks. We hurt an individual whose job it is to perform at the highest level. Even the probability of scoring a point is what's important to me at the moment. I have hard decisions to make, and mine is for the well-being of this organisation as a whole, and that is I will do everything it takes to score the point if it's available to us," the Williams boss said.