The team does not currently have a spare chassis, so following the Thai driver’s huge crash during FP1 in Australia on Friday, the decision was made to switch him to Logan Sargeant’s car, leaving the American on the sidelines.
Team principal James Vowles confirmed that the third chassis was still so far behind schedule that instead of speeding up its completion, the team would repair the damaged tank.
It is being flown back to the UK and is expected to arrive at the Grove factory early Monday morning.
That the team finds itself in such a difficult situation is a reflection of the outdated processes Vowles and his technical director Pat Fry observed when they saw the FW46 come together at the last minute.
Amid continued efforts to change and update processes, the manufacturing of two complete race cars and spare parts, as well as planned improvements during the first three races, have absorbed all available resources. The third chassis was significantly behind schedule.
To his credit, Vowles has been completely open about what happened in Melbourne, both in terms of the difficult decision to bench Sargeant and the bigger picture of the weaknesses that left the team in a dire situation. also precarious.
“When I started in February last year, the plan was to have three chassis from the first run,” he explains.
“As we went through big changes in the organization, with performance and technology changes in the back end and processes, we started to fundamentally abandon certain elements.
“Resources are limited. And as we moved through an inefficient structure and transformed ourselves at the same time, we started to cause problems.
“And these problems before could have resulted in the addition of metal [rather than carbon] components, or last year’s rear fenders. In this particular case, the third chassis started to be delayed and delayed and delayed.
“And I think one of the things that we’ve been transparent about is that we were very late with these cars – very, very late. We pushed everything to the absolute limit. And the consequence is that we We didn’t have a spare chassis.
“Even back then it was expected to be here, in the third round. But it was delayed and delayed again.
Alex Albon, Williams Racing FW46
Photo by: Williams
Essentially, the team made their lives difficult over the winter trying to improve their working methods and build a better car.
“If we go back to the root cause, it’s the fact that we’ve added significant processes, we’ve completely changed the way we make a chassis,” Vowles says.
“There are almost 10 times more parts in a chassis than last year. It is a level of complexity that takes an organization to a new level.
Vowles admits that not having a spare chassis or safety net is not a situation the team should have put themselves in.
“No team considers not having a third chassis, not in modern F1,” he says. “The last time I had it was in 2009 [with Brawn GP]. That was the last time I didn’t have three cars. And we were lucky that year, we could have easily lost the championship because of losing a car.
“You don’t mean to do that.” It is simply unacceptable to not have two cars side by side fighting.
“In the case of what we’re doing now, the reason this is happening is because we’re behind on everything. As we try to advance in processing and processing systems, something gets pushed to the back burner. And in this case, it is the third chassis.
“We have updates planned and other things planned. But I have to devote all the manpower to getting this chassis back into good condition, without losing the momentum we have on the third chassis and on the updates. Something is going to give, there’s no doubt about it.”
For Vowles and his engineers, the first three race weekends were like Russian roulette, with everyone aware that a major accident could trigger the nightmare scenario that unfolded.
Vowles knew as soon as he saw the scale of Albon’s crash on television replays that there might be a problem, and his fears were realized when the wreckage was brought back to the paddock.
“Yesterday the gearbox was cracked in half, the engine mounts were completely bent and the engine was basically cooked,” he explains.
“And the chassis in the front right corner, where the suspension goes in, is torn up, that’s the best way to put it. I can stick my finger in the chassis, which you shouldn’t be able to do, just for clarity!
Logan Sargeant, Williams Racing, signs autographs for fans
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
From the start, the focus was on repairing the wrecked car rather than rushing to build a new bathtub.
“Overnight, the team worked brilliantly with the structures and constraints department and the design office to decide how we were going to solve this problem in a short period of time,” says Vowles.
“We will definitely have two chassis in Japan, but I don’t think the third chassis, because the workload we have now following this change will push it back.
“Resources are limited. And you can either make sure we have two cars built and the right amount of spare parts in Japan, or you can provide an additional chassis. »
The first priority was to return the damaged tank to Grove as quickly as possible, having already given the factory as much information about what the repair work would entail and what new parts would be needed.
“The team here managed to get the car back for the roundabout at 2am on Monday,” notes Vowles. “So we will already have crews working on it starting Monday to repair it.
“Until they see it in person, it will be very difficult. We do things by photo and CND [non-destructive testing] what we did here. But there are about four or five mitigation plans in place.
So, is it 100% sure it will be ready for Suzuka?
“Until the chassis is back in the UK, and they have not been properly inspected from the photos that we have and the NDTs that we have here, and they have not properly analyzed the subject, no one can give you 100% certainty,” he says.
“What I can tell you, based on the evidence we have so far and the work that has been done overnight, it all looks very achievable.
“I have seen chassis in the worst condition come back. 100 percent is a difficult number to give you, and as a statistician I wouldn’t say 100 percent. But I would say there is a very high probability that everything will be fine.”
James Vowles, Team Principal, Williams Racing
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Vowles is a glass-half-full type of guy, and he tried to see the positives and use the difficult weekend in Melbourne as a motivational tool.
He also cites it as clear evidence of the need to change processes in the factory.
“One of the things I did yesterday was bring the team together and explain why I made the decision I made. [about Sargeant]and why we need to come together as a team and not fall apart as a team,” he says.
“And why we need to use this as a catalyst for change.” So it’s very frustrating, we should never find ourselves in a situation at the highest level of motorsport where we are not able to produce two cars to go on the grid.
“But I’ve always said that this catalyst for change that we need to make, the change that we’re making right now within Williams, is not going to happen over a month or a year, but over several years, to start to solve all of these problems.
“You see one result of that, which is that the third chassis is not ready. Rather, that’s what I’m trying to use as a strength within the organization, that’s why we’re changing, that’s why I’m confident it will work as a result.
“And please use what happened today not as a frustration, but as a catalyst for why we need to do this very quickly together.”
As part of this process, the entire racing team is now focused on the Albon weekend – there is neither them nor us in the garages.
Meanwhile, the team continues to play Russian roulette. Albon cannot afford to have a second big accident this weekend, and it will be the same at Suzuka, where there will be no reserve in the event of a big outing from either of the pilots. Vowles insists he doesn’t need to tell them to be careful.
“I’m pretty sure after yesterday they understand perfectly well that we can’t take any risks at this stage,” he insists.
“It’s an interesting psychological trick. I’m talking to a driver and I tell him not to take any chances, they’re racing drivers, that’s what I pay them for, I pay them to push to the absolute limits of what they can be in the limits of reason.
“And I’m asking them to do something that’s completely natural to them and, in some ways, probably worse. So in response to that, that’s not how I operate with drivers.
“But I think they are now sufficiently aware of what happened in the last 24 hours and the situation we find ourselves in.”
