Williams without spare chassis until Miami, Sargeant gets Albon's fixed one

Williams are still without a spare chassis in Japan and will also be without a spare one in China too. Logan Sargeant will additionally have to make do with Alexander Albon's patched-up chassis after his crash in Australia.

In Australia, the state of affairs at Williams became painfully clear. The team did not have time to build a spare chassis before the start of this season. As a result, the team have an immediate problem if one of their drivers slams into the wall. In Melbourne, this meant only Albon could be in action, after the Thai-British driver himself damaged his chassis during FP1.

With two chassis' and no spare chassis, it will be up to the Williams drivers to keep the cars in one piece in Japan. However, we should not expect a different approach: "No, not at all. I think we’ve been like that since Bahrain, and it doesn't really change anything," said Albon at the press conference. His teammate also sees little reason for a change of approach.

Why Sargeant gets Albon's repaired chassis

"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 know you have to be careful, but at the same time, you can't be. It's Formula One. 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."

In that respect, the drivers need to hang on for a while, as this situation will remain for some time. Indeed, Albon and Sargeant confirm that the spare chassis will not be ready until Miami. So in China, Williams will not have a spare chassis either.

And then there is the question of who should drive Albon's recovered chassis? That appears to be Sargeant. "The workload to switch the cars back over would just be far too much for the mechanics. But yes, the chassis repaired went better than expected. It should be perfectly normal as far as I'm aware." Sargeant therefore denied that it is a disadvantage for him to have to drive with that chassis at Suzuka.