Williams may be without two drivers for the Australian Grand Prix after Alex Albon crashed badly in first practice.
Alex Albon suffered a serious crash in his Williams FW46 during the first practice session in Melbourne, and it has been revealed that his participation in the remainder of the weekend's games is at risk.
Alex Albon brings out red flag after crash in practice
With 20 minutes remaining in the early afternoon session, Albon went slightly wide out of Turn 6 and appeared to bottom out on the exit curb of Turn 7.
At the same corner where he crashed out in last year's race, Albon lost control of his car and crashed into the wall on the right side of the track.
Bouncing off the concrete, Albon ended up back across the track and crashed into the left side of the wall surrounding the circuit, gradually coming to a halt.
Albon clambers into the free skate amid a red flag after a heavy impact that leaves debris scattered across the track, and Williams is ruled out of the second practice session as the team assesses the damage to his FW46. Admitted.
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Ahead of the second practice session in Melbourne, Williams issued a statement to the media: “Following Alex's accident in FP1, we can confirm that he will not take part in FP2 while we continue to assess the damage.
“Alex was unharmed in the incident.”
However, the weekend could be even more complicated for Williams as the team confirmed to PlanetF1.com that the Grove-based outfit does not have a spare chassis available for use in Melbourne.
As a result, Williams will only be able to use one car if Albon's chassis is damaged beyond safe use. That means it could potentially be a difficult situation if the team is unsure whether to give the car to Albon or not. Sergeant Logan.
The extent of the damage to the car continues to be investigated, but Williams has yet to confirm that the chassis is unusable.
Albon's damage has been self-inflicted, but the British-Thai driver has remained the Grove-based team's star performer over the past 12 months, while Sargent has only scored just one point in his entire career. not acquired.
Martin Brundle on Sky Sports F1 said that if Williams had to make a decision between two drivers it would be a “no hesitation” and it would make more sense to give Albon the only chassis available. He said it was appropriate.
Pat Frye: Everything was delayed a lot.
Williams' lack of a spare chassis may be closely related to the fact that the team was far behind in developing the physical components for this season, with Chief Technology Officer Pat Fry noting that He admitted that the schedule was delayed during the test.
Fry, who joined the team from Alpine late last season as Williams opted against a pre-test shakedown of the FW46, said so many parts were made so late that “I've never seen anything like this before.'' No,” he said.
“The way we build cars is very different from what you would call a normal car,” Frye said. “And that's not very efficient.
“Everything has been delayed a lot. [It’s not as] If I have to work late for some reason, I'm used to preparing a lot of my underperforming work early and putting it on the floor as late as possible. That's the biggest aero effect. And since there is a cost limit, they will only build one, and his one in the test will be the one in the race.
“But we had everything [late]. I've never seen anything like it. I don't want to live again.I'm sure James [Vowles, team boss] I don't want to live the same life again! ”
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