Damon Hill feels for a ‘reeling’ Formula 1 team after the Sky Sports F1 pundit saw ‘the last thing’ they needed during first free practice at the 2024 Japanese GP this Friday.
The pinnacle of motorsport has returned to Suzuka for the second time in a mere six months this weekend. It is the earliest that F1 has ever held the Japanese GP after grouping its races more closely by region. Red Bull ace Max Verstappen only won the 2023 meet in September.
Rain ruined much of FP2 and a complete lack of competitive running denied all 10 teams the chance to complete qualifying and race simulations. But not all of the 20 drivers would have taken part after Williams, reluctantly, had to sideline one racer for the second FP2 in a row.
Williams driver Logan Sargeant missed FP2 at the Japanese GP after crashing in FP1
Williams confirmed ahead of the start of FP2 that Logan Sargeant would not take part as the Grove squad worked on repairing his car after crashing in FP1 at the 2024 Japanese GP. Alex Albon had missed FP2 at the 2024 Australian GP two weeks ago after his heavy crash in FP1.
Taking too much kerb at Turn 7 in Melbourne pitched Albon into the outside wall and ruined Williams’ chassis. It punctured a hole in the chassis and damaged his gearbox and engine, so Williams withdrew Sargeant from the rest of that event to hand Albon their only chassis left.
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Williams, still, do not have a spare chassis at the Japanese GP after using the break between races to repair the one Albon ruined. Sargeant is now using that chassis at the Japanese GP owing to the additional time Williams would have needed to swap the chassis around again.
So, the Williams mechanics’ hearts would have been in their mouths after Sargeant crashed in FP1 at the Japanese GP. Luckily, the 23-year-old did not damage the chassis. But the Fort Lauderdale, Florida native did enough damage to his FW46 to stop him from running in FP2.
Sargent left the Williams crew with a lot of repair work after destroying both ends of his car in FP1. The American initially clouted the barrier at Dunlop Curve with the rear of his FW46 after drifting wide at the left-hander. But the crash spun the front end into the barrier, too.
Damon Hill feels Logan Sargeant’s FP1 crash was the ‘last thing’ Williams needed
Former Williams driver Hill, who won the 1996 drivers’ championship with the Grove squad, admits Sargeant crashing in FP1 was the ‘last thing’ the team wanted to see at the Japanese GP. Especially as it came from Sargeant simply drifting too far wide running through Dunlop.
“I don’t think the car is any more difficult to drive than any of the others,” Hill noted on Sky Sports F1 (5/4, 06:49). “You might say the Mercedes is difficult to drive. But they have had more than their fair share of demolished cars.
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“Definitely, obviously [with] the short period of time from Australia to this one now, this is the last thing they needed. I thought it was a hard question from Ted [Kravitz], ‘Why do your drivers keep crashing?’ It’s not what you want to hear if you are a team principal.
“Some things are just not within your control other than to say, ‘Please don’t crash the car’. But they are not trying to crash. They are trying to go faster. And in this case, I think Logan probably misjudged that and the damage is extensive. And, again, the team is reeling from having to repair a demolished Formula 1 car.”
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