The red flags were flying for the first time this season at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix last time out. Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo made contact, sending both of them into the wall.
For Ricciardo, it was yet another setback. The former Red Bull driver faces a fight to keep his seat for 2025 after under-performing relative to teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the early part of the season.
But the accident was arguably even more costly for Williams. The Grove outfit didn’t have a spare chassis available in Suzuka as they continue to deal with the consequences of a ‘shocking’ winter under James Vowles.
They were only able to run one car at the previous race in Australia after Albon’s crash in practice, with Logan Sargeant benched even though he hadn’t made the mistake. They then repaired that chassis ahead of their trip to Suzuka, handing it to the American.
Journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm reckons Williams have already accumulated around £2m worth of damage across the first four events. Sargeant had already hit the wall in FP1 before Albon’s race-ending shunt.
Pedro de la Rosa sends message to driver who may be ‘depressed’
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Pedro de la Rosa accepted that Sargeant will likely be ‘unhappy’ with his situation at Williams right now, but has urged him to keep pushing. He feels that the 23-year-old should leave ‘no wheel unturned’ as he tries to improve.
And the Spaniard, a veteran of 104 Grands Prix, also pointed out that Albon has been involved in incidents too. As such, it would be wrong to direct all the criticism at Sargeant.
He said: “My best advice would be work hard, do a lot of simulator days in the factory, make sure that there’s no wheel unturned from his side. And I’d also remind him that not all the mistakes have been done by him. Let’s not forget that the crash in Australia was Alex Albon.
“We are seeing many crashes from Williams drivers, some unfortunate. We’re just focusing on Logan Sargeant. Come on man, I think we have to give him a break as well. There’s been mistakes, some unfortunate racing incidents like Suzuka, which can happen.
“Just work hard, keep doing what you’re doing, make sure that, because you are feeling unhappy or depressed at one point, [you keep] working as hard, because it’s very difficult to keep pushing yourself every morning if things are not going your way.”
Will Logan Sargeant lose his seat at Williams?
The pressure on both Sargeant and Williams has gone up a notch after a weekend that started with an accident and ended in an underwhelming 17th-place finish. Indeed, Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz directly asked Vowles why his drivers ‘keep crashing’.
Since then, the criticism has been intense. Ralf Schumacher has said that Sargeant looks simply ‘overwhelmed’, while Jolyon Palmer lamented his growing list of ‘random mistakes’.
The Florida-born racer is out of contract at the end of the year and F1 commentator Alex Jacques says it looks as if he’s ‘constantly on the brink’. There’s even a possibility that Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli could replace him before the season is out.
Meanwhile, journalist Lawrence Barretto says Williams stands out as one of the likeliest destinations for Carlos Sainz after Aston Martin re-signed Fernando Alonso. Faced with the choice between a race-winner and the struggling Sargeant, Vowles may feel he only has one option.
The post ‘I’d also remind him’: 23-year-old F1 driver told to do more days in the simulator after recent crash appeared first on F1 Oversteer.