Vowles clarifies Sargeant chassis after crash

Logan Sargeant can 'just' be in action for the rest of this race weekend after his crash during the first free practice in Japan. James Vowles has confirmed that the chassis is undamaged, although the rest of the car is badly damaged.

Sargeant crashed during the first free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix. A major blow for the American, who will race in Japan with the repaired chassis of Alexander Albon that had to be patched up after his crash in Australia. Sargeant did not race at all in Melbourne as the team did not have a spare chassis.

Is Sargeant's chassis in good shape?

Williams do not have a spare chassis available in Japan either, so there was a real scare when Sargeant crashed in FP1. Vowles revealed at the press conference that the damage was significant. "So the chassis is okay fortunately, but I would say pretty much everything else isn't. So suspension all around, gearbox cracked, big damage."

The massive damage will make it difficult for Sargeant to drive FP2, as the car may not be repaired in time. According to Vowles, the crash was due to Sargeant himself: "It's at the top of the brow of the hill there, he struggled to see where his positioning was on track. So it fundamentally looks like he didn't quite realise where he was with where the grass was on the outside and put a wheel on the grass."