Williams began fixing Albon’s wrecked car at 2am on Monday.
Team principal James Vowles said the damaged FW46 was returned to their base as quickly as possible in order to repair it in time for transportation to Suzuka.
28th March 2024, 12:02
Written by Keith Collantine
RaceFans

Williams say the efforts to repair Alexander Albon’s car for next week’s Japanese Grand Prix will not prevent them bringing minor upgrades to the race. “I’m confident we’ll be able to fix the chassis,” he said in a video published by the team. “We put measures in place to make sure the chassis was back here very early on Monday morning.

“It arrived around 2am or so and since then there was already crews inside the building working on that, stripping it down and doing repairs. We’re in a good place for having the chassis back early enough for Suzuka.” The team at the track ensured those back at the factory were ready to begin the repair work immediately, said Vowles. “A lot of the work was done back in Melbourne.

There was photographs and techniques called NDT, which is non-destructive testing, there’s various ones you can do that [which] allows us to fully understand how big the damage is and what we have to do. “That preparation was key. What it meant was already at 2am on Monday, work could start. It wasn’t then a reflection on what was happening, it was more ‘this is what we’re doing and this is how we execute it’. So in Suzuka we’ll have two cars without too many issues.”

‘Fixing Albon’s wrecked car at 2am’;

https://www.racefans.net/2024/03/28/...2am-on-monday/


F1 Tech Show: Williams's production issues exposed
Mar 27, 2024
The Race

How does a Formula 1 team such as Williams find itself in a position where it can only field one car? That, and the question of what can be done to prevent a repeat, is the focus of this edition of The Race F1 Tech Show, as host Edd Straw and former F1 technical director Gary Anderson unpack Williams's major predicament after Alex Albon's crash in Australian Grand Prix practice forced the team to withdraw its second entry.

As well as considering how Williams goes about repairing the damaged chassis in time for the Japanese GP, Straw and Anderson also discuss whether McLaren - which took its first podium of the season in Melbourne last weekend - is being held back by DRS issues and how encouraged Ferrari should be by its start to the 2024 season.

‘Williams's production issues exposed’;

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/w...-show-podcast/


Williams in race against time to rebuild Albon chassis
Williams faces a race against time to repair the chassis Alex Albon damaged during opening practice of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
27 March 2024
by Mat Coch
Speedcafe

The damage sustained in the crash was significant. “The gearbox was cracked in two, the engine mounts were completely bent, and the engine’s done, fundamentally,” Vowles admitted. “The chassis, on the front-right corner where the suspension goes in, is torn apart, is the best way to describe it. I can put my finger into the chassis – which you shouldn’t be able to do, just for clarity.”

“The team’s been brilliant in working with the structures and stresses department and with the [Design Office]. The team here have been able to get the car back for about Monday 2 am, so we have teams already working on it for Monday onwards in order to get it repaired. Until they see it in person, it will be very difficult, they’re doing things by photo that we’ve done here, but there’s four or five mitigation plans in place for it.”

“It’s hard until I get the chassis physically back there to give you a full acknowledgement of how difficult it would be,” he conceded when asked by Speedcafe about the timelines for the repair, and having it ready for Japan. “It should all be achievable. The car [had] to leave by Saturday to make it back on time, which gives us near enough a week, and that’s a sufficient amount of time. No one can give you 100 percent certainty,” he added.

‘Race against time to repair the chassis’;

https://speedcafe.com/williams-in-ra...albon-chassis/


Sargeant unlikely to be sidelined again at Suzuka
James Vowles says he's "confident" Williams will have a car at Suzuka for Logan Sargeant to race.
MARCH 28, 2024
GrandPrix.com

The decision to eject Sargeant from his car to give it to the other side of the garage following Alex Albon's practice crash in Melbourne was highly controversial.

The fact that Williams still has no spare chassis so deep into the new season, however, is arguably less forgivable - especially as a third monocoque will still not be ready in time for the Japanese GP. It has even been rumoured that Williams will not even be able to repair Albon's original chassis for Suzuka - logically sidelining Sargeant yet again.

“I'm confident we'll be able to fix the chassis”, team boss James Vowles insisted late on Wednesday, revealing that the damaged car got back to the Grove factory at 2am on Monday morning. He said it's now being stripped down and repaired - and the damage is extensive.

‘Unlikely to be sidelined again’;

https://www.grandprix.com/news/sarge...at-suzuka.html


Williams will have two cars but still no spare in Japan
Thursday, 28 Mar 2024 8:47 PM MYT
Malay Mail

LONDON, March 28 — Williams are confident they will be back up to strength with two cars at next week’s Japanese Grand Prix, after having only one in Australia last Sunday due to crash damage, but will still have no spare.

Team principal James Vowles said in a debrief posted on the www.williamsf1.com website that both drivers would be racing at Suzuka. “I’m confident we’ll be able to fix the (damaged) chassis,” he said. “We put measures in place to make sure the chassis was back here (at the factory in England) pretty early on Monday morning, I think it arrived at around 2am.”

He said prioritising Albon over Sargeant in Melbourne had been by far his hardest decision in Formula One but the correct one on performance. “The whole world has seen where we are in reality and how far behind we are and what work we have to do to move forward,” he added of the Melbourne situation.

‘Williams WILL have two cars’;

https://www.malaymail.com/news/sport...n-japan/126067


Vowles issues update on Albon's chassis ahead of Japan
Williams has been trying to repair Alex Albon's damaged chassis ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
28 March 3:00PM
Jake Nichol
RacingNews365

After a race to return the damaged chassis to the factory, Vowles has offered an update on the state of the repair ahead of the trip to Suzuka across the weekend of April 5-7th. "I am confident that we will be able to fix the chassis," Vowles explained during his in-house team video debrief.

"A lot of the work was done back in Melbourne. There were photographs and techniques called NDT, which is non-destructive testing, so, there are various [tests ]you can do. But it allows us to fully understand how big the damage is and what we have to do.”

"That preparation was key. What it meant was, already at 2am on Monday, work could start. It wasn’t a reflection of what was happening. It was more: 'This is what we’re doing and this is how we’ll execute it.' So, in Suzuka, we’ll have two cars without too many issues."

‘Confident that we will be able to fix the chassis’;

https://racingnews365.com/vowles-iss...ahead-of-japan