Alex Albon narrowly missed out on points at the Australian GP on a weekend characterised by a shortage of components – an issue that is far from over. For the foreseeable future, Williams F1 must optimise the limited parts available.
Victory for Carlos Sainz and Ferrari have logically swept F1 news headlines. However, while this disruption of Verstappen’s dominance is positive for neutral fans, the chaos from Albert Park has buried the biggest story from Friday Practice.
This was, of course, Albon’s FP1 crash and James Vowles’ subsequent decision to withdraw Logan Sargeant and give his car to teammate Alex Albon.
Ultimately, Williams leaves Melbourne empty-handed. This fact, in combination with the reaction to their ruthless driver swap, makes the Australian GP one to forget at Grove.
Moving away from the impact of this weekend on their drivers, the last 48 hours shine a light on the team’s limitations.
As part of the team’s infrastructural revamp, Williams changed their design and manufacturing approach. For the British team principal, this is an essential part of modernising and improving the team.
As in most aspects of Formula 1, new philosophies carry risks. For the Grove-based team, their journey of self-improvement meant they barely constructed the FW46 in time for Bahrain testing.
More specifically, their off-season readjustment gave them enough time to produce two chassis for 2024. As part of the team’s 2024 gamble, they arrived at the Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Australian GPs without a spare chassis.
ALBON: WILLIAMS MUST REMAIN CAUTIOUS
As explained by Alex Albon after crossing the line P11 in Melbourne, they won’t have a spare chassis ready for round 4 either:
“Let’s see, I think we’re still going to have to be quite sensible with how we’re driving the next few races.
“We need to see when this third car is going to be ready. For now, I’ll go back to my repaired one and give Logan back his car.”
Despite the two-week gap between today and the upcoming Japanese GP, Williams will not have a new chassis ready.
Instead, the first objective is to repair the extensive damage suffered to the Thai driver’s car earlier this weekend.
Producing a third chassis will be the priority after this, although it is unknown when it will be ready.
There is some distance between the team’s factory in Grove and the upcoming races in Suzuka and Shanghai. Logistically, this presents the team with challenges.
For the short term, James Vowles and CTO Pat Fry will hope that Sargeant and Albon can avoid the barriers.
