The Williams Racing team boss, James Vowles, announced that the team is on track to repair the damaged chassis from the Australian Grand Prix in time for the Japanese Grand Prix. Following Alexander Albon’s crash during practice, Williams was left with only one car for the race. The team faced tight deadlines to assemble their revamped FW46, leaving them without a spare chassis for the start of the 2024 season. However, Vowles confirmed that the damaged chassis has been returned to the team’s base and repairs are underway to ensure that both drivers can compete in Suzuka next weekend.
In a video shared on social media, Vowles expressed confidence in their ability to fix the chassis, highlighting the steps taken to ensure its swift return to the team. The chassis arrived at the base in the early hours of Monday morning, allowing the team to immediately begin the repair process. Extensive work was also carried out in Melbourne, including Non-Destructive Testing, to assess the extent of the damage and determine the necessary repairs. Thanks to this preparation, the team is now in a favorable position to have the chassis ready for the upcoming race in Suzuka, ensuring they have two trouble-free cars.
However, due to the setback of repairing the damaged chassis, Williams will head to the challenging Suzuka circuit once again without a spare body. This means that if a repeat of Logan Sargeant’s accident from last season occurs, the British team will find themselves in the same unfortunate situation they faced last weekend.
“Definitely we will have two bodies in Japan, but I don’t believe we will have a third body, as the additional workload caused by this change will delay its completion,” explained Vowles. “There is a limited amount of resources available. We can use them to ensure we have two fully prepared cars with the necessary spare parts in Japan, or we can use them to build an extra body.”
Vowles made the decision to give the only remaining body at Williams to Albon, as he believed Albon had the best chance of scoring a crucial point and improving his position in the standings. Despite Albon falling slightly short due to severe tire wear, Vowles maintains that he would not have made this choice if he didn’t believe it was the right one.
“At this moment, what matters to me is the probability of scoring a point,” he added. “I have tough decisions to make, and my priority is the overall well-being of this organization. I will do whatever it takes to secure that point if it is within our reach.”
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