James Vowles has revealed that a number of recent Williams crashes have destroyed most of the updated parts.
Alex Albon and Logan Sargent were involved in a major crash over the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, and their recent woes worsened after Albon crashed his car in Australia, damaging the chassis.
James Vowles: Alex Albon mentally frustrated but physically fine
Albon made contact with RB Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap at Suzuka, with the Australian driver passing the Williams on the outside of Turn 3 without noticing the creeping Albon.
As a result of this collision, both drivers stalled and crashed into the barriers, where their weekend ended.
Stewards investigated the incident but ruled that no action would be taken against Ricciardo as it occurred during the first lap of the race.
Williams team boss James Vowles later told F1TV that Albon was frustrated by the incident which meant he was unable to race.
“I just sat with him for a little bit inside the catering facility,” he said.
“He's obviously mentally frustrated by what happened, but physically he's OK and the most important thing for me is that Daniel and he both walk away.”
“It's a big shunt and there's a lot of damage, but as long as he doesn't take any damage, he'll be fine.”
Baules confirmed to Australian publication Speedcafe that the chassis will be sent back to Grove for repairs, before being shipped back to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix.
It's a race against time, considering the crash happened during a race, rather than earlier than Albon's practice crash in Australia.
Vowles told F1TV that the recent spate of crashes was a huge blow for Williams, given the fact that they only have two chassis and production of a third has been delayed due to the accident in Australia. He said it was a difficult situation.
Albon's car required repairs after Suzuka, so the spare chassis schedule could be postponed again.
“It looks like there's a little bit of damage on the right front again, which is obviously a coincidence, but we'll see how bad it is when we get it… Looks like it's repairable to me, but it's a bit of a coincidence.” “This is because of the images that were taken,” Vowles said. .
“The last two weeks have been tough. I think it's tough for a team that has had three major accidents where almost all the equipment on the car was removed.
“You can deal with it over the course of a season, but it's difficult to deal with just a few races. The impact will be what you expect.
“While we are creating spares as quickly as possible in the background, we are unable to provide many updates as performance will ultimately be affected. Unfortunately, the update that was on the car was broken, so , you need to back up your stock and start running again.”
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James Vowles: Updated components are 'mostly gone'
Bolles, who introduced the latest parts to Williams, said three crashes over two race weekends had nearly exhausted the stock of parts that had been manufactured.
“Hopefully we could recycle some of these pieces, but no, most of them are gone,” he says.
“I think the important thing is this… One of the great strengths of this organization is our resiliency. We've been through a lot over the last 10 years, but we're going to get back up and move forward again.”
“What encouraged me was that Logan was able to stay ahead and pass the other guys around him in that race on tires that were the same age. It's encouraging that the race package I have is not bad.
“We weren't in Melbourne, but we were here or thereabouts. From basically RB to us to Alpine, it's incredibly close. There's nothing between these teams. No. The encouragement I'm getting is that we will bounce back, come to China, and come back strong.”
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