James Vowles believes that the decision to give Logan Sargent's car to Alex Albon not only hurt the American driver, but that Williams still does not have a spare chassis available in Japan, so this He admitted that it might not be the last time.
Williams has made controversial comments after Albon crashed in opening practice at the Albert Park circuit on Friday, causing damage worth $500,000, and from FP3 onwards, Williams has made Sargent's car the same as Albon's. decided to provide it.
Ted Kravitz criticizes James Vowles: 'Is it really worth it?'
Realizing that he didn't have the parts needed to repair Albon's car, especially a spare chassis, Bolles said he made his decision based on which driver he believed had a better chance of scoring points for the team. Stated.
Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz grilled Boules in the Albert Park paddock on Saturday morning and asked whether the potential damage was worth the points.
“Maybe, maybe for a one-point gain, if nothing happens with the running back or anything like that, it hurts Logan's confidence and credibility and undermines your decision to keep him this year anyway, and maybe even with you.” It would damage our relationship with the United States.''Many don't think this is a fair decision, although it could hurt the owners, their American sponsors, and their relationship with fans. But is it really worth it? ” asked a reporter in the pit lane.
“If I hadn't, I wouldn't have made this decision, Ted,” Vowles replied. “We harm the individuals who carry out the work. [at] It's at the highest level and anything that gets in the way of that will put you on the back burner, there's no doubt about that.
“You were talking about one point, and that one point is almost nothing, meaningless…”
Kravitz interjected. “No, I just said you might score one on him. I never said one score wasn't big.”
Baules replied: “In a situation like that, even the possibility of scoring points is important to me at the moment. I have to make difficult decisions, but my decisions are for the well-being of this entire organization. And , if that's possible for us, we're going to do whatever it takes to get points.”
Asked why he had “decided to sacrifice Logan completely”, the former Mercedes man said: “Logan hasn't done anything wrong, he hasn't made a single mistake. But the points are for the top 10 cars. Currently, 1 point has been earned by Haas for 6th to 10th place.
“And I think at the end of the season, one or two points will separate the championship positions. As a result, with just one car I had to give it my all, but throughout the year, Alex held the lead over Logan in every event, and with just one car, every point makes a difference, giving him the best statistical chance to score points. .”
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Williams' third chassis pushed back 'beyond here'
Worryingly for Sargent, Williams' chassis problems are unlikely to be resolved in time for the season's fifth race, the Chinese Grand Prix.
When Kravitz told Voels that the team didn't bring a spare chassis, “it's your fault, you, the team boss,” to which Voels replied: We are an organization that is largely undergoing a transformation from what it was before. It's clear we're nowhere near where we want to be, but I've been brutally honest about that from the beginning. ”
The plan was to have three chassis from the first race in Bahrain, but the complex nature of the chassis technology meant that in the end Williams “had two cars with enough spares to run in Bahrain”. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to transport them to other countries,” he explained.
“At some point you have to make a decision, do you sacrifice a spare or sacrifice a spare chassis? And the chassis is what we pushed back on.
“Originally it was supposed to be a third round, but we're still playing with fire because it was two rounds that could have been done without the chassis, but due to further problems and further delays, it has been postponed from here on out.”
There are also reports that Williams does not yet have a spare for the next race, the Japanese Grand Prix, and is instead focusing on repairs for Albon.
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