Williams team principal James Vowles has issued his response after Ted Kravitz grilled him on his drivers’ mistakes at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Logan Sargeant took no part in the second practice session at Suzuka after crashing at the end of the first sector.
And Vowles, speaking to Sky Sports F1, has addressed a second Friday mishap for one of his drivers in as many races.
Last time out in Australia, Alex Albon broke his chassis with a shunt in the first hour of running.
It had major repercussions because Williams didn’t have a spare available, so they were only able to run one car for the remainder of the weekend.
Given Albon’s superior track record, Vowles decided to place him in the car and bench Sargeant.
Williams subsequently repaired that chassis at their HQ before handing it to the American driver for this weekend.
While the damage from Sargeant’s crash, which saw him spin off at the Dunlop corner and hit the wall nose-first, kept him out of FP2, there’s no indication as yet that it will threaten his participation on Saturday.
Williams’ limited supplies are a consequence of a ‘shocking’ winter that saw Vowles, who only became team boss in 2023, overhaul their production processes.
James Vowles defends Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon
In an interview that took place between the two practice sessions, Kravitz asked Vowles why his drivers seem to ‘keep crashing’.
The 44-year-old stressed that they need to be ‘on the limit’ given the tight nature of the midfield battle.
Williams are one of three teams, alongside Sauber and Alpine, who have yet to score a point so far this season.
However, the former Mercedes man rejected any notion that the car was to blame, and admitted Albon and Sargeant needed to cut out the mistakes.
He said: “It’s a strong question – one to ask drivers – but I think what you can see of the midfield at the moment, it’s incredibly tight.
“And what we’re asking of the drivers is to be absolutely on the limit to get everything out of it.
“There’s no margin for error fundamentally in terms of performance.
“I don’t think the car has any ill-handling characteristics.”
He later added: “It is a sore statistic that we are generating as many red flags as we are, and clearly it affects future programmes, so we’ve got to get on top of that.”
Will Logan Sargeant lose his seat?
Sargeant’s crash on Friday is the latest setback in an F1 career that appears to be under growing threat.
The expectation was that he would be more motivated than ever this weekend as a result of Vowles’ brutal call in Melbourne.
The former F2 racer certainly has his fair share of doubters, with journalist Rebecca Clancy declaring that ‘nobody thinks’ he deserves his seat.
Another feels he needs a ‘miracle’ to retain his spot alongside Albon for the 2025 season.
But it may not just be outsiders who don’t rate Sargeant especially highly, with F1TV’s Jolyon Palmer arguing that Williams clearly lack confidence in him too.
Reporter Joe Saward has raised the possibility that the 23-year-old might not even last until the end of the season.
He says that, depending on the performance of both drivers, Williams could drop him for Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the Italian Grand Prix.
The team have previously employed Silver Arrows youngster George Russell and will be closely watching how teenager Antonelli fares in F2.
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