The Williams Formula 1 team has been incredibly busy since the Australian Grand Prix, ensuring that they have two cars ready for the upcoming race in Japan. This was necessary because Alex Albon’s crash during practice in Melbourne resulted in his teammate, Logan Sargeant, being unable to compete. Gary Anderson provides his analysis of how Williams ended up in this predicament and the extensive work they had to undertake to prepare for the race in Suzuka.
The incident in Melbourne serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of a Formula 1 team becoming too ambitious. The root of the problem, not having a spare chassis and therefore only fielding one car in Melbourne, can be traced back to a delay in starting the manufacturing process. This delay may have been well-intentioned, as Team Principal James Vowles, drawing from his experience with Mercedes, aimed to minimize production time to maximize design time and ultimately improve the car’s performance. However, while other top teams have spent years streamlining their production processes, Williams, due to financial struggles prior to being taken over by Dorilton Capital in 2020, has fallen behind and is still playing catch-up.
As a former technical director, I can attest to the difficulties of managing a team when you are short on parts. While I never faced a situation where we could only run one car, there were instances where we didn’t have a spare chassis for the first race, leaving us hoping that there wouldn’t be a crash. In such cases, we had to swap parts between cars and sometimes prioritize the stronger driver. Despite not scoring any points in Australia, it was the right decision to field Alex Albon and maximize the team’s chances of finishing in the top 10 and potentially earning points.
Initially, Williams had planned to have three chassis available for the first race, but this timeline was pushed back to Australia. It now appears that the spare chassis won’t be ready until the fifth race in China. Vowles has suggested that the team had to choose between prioritizing performance parts or the spare chassis, but I disagree that this was solely due to a lack of proper processes. Building an F1 car is an immensely complex task, involving numerous parts and significant lead times. While a sophisticated ERP system can help manage the process more efficiently, it is still possible to oversee the build process using traditional methods. However, constantly reallocating resources between different components of the car indicates a lack of resources to meet the desired timeline.
Ultimately, the delay in producing the first chassis and the subsequent need to intervene and reshuffle resources have led to significant setbacks for Williams. The repair work on Albon’s damaged chassis has consumed valuable resources that could have been used to build new performance parts. The repair process began immediately after assessing the damage, with new submoulds being created and the damaged area being cut back to ensure structural integrity. The damaged parts of the outer skin, honeycomb core, and inner skin were removed, and new sections were overlapped and connected. The use of a lower-temperature resin system was necessary to avoid damaging the existing structure. While the repaired chassis should be as stiff as before, it will be slightly heavier due to the additional material used.
It will be interesting to see if Williams decides to give the slightly lighter, patched-up chassis to Sargeant, while Albon uses the repaired one. Regardless, the completion of the spare chassis is crucial to ensure the team has a backup for future races. Going to Suzuka without a spare would be risky, and the team must have a clean event without any further damage. The leadership at Williams, including James Vowles and Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry, have acknowledged the extent of the challenges they have faced. They have been transparent about the issues with the car’s build and have promised that such problems will not occur again. This experience serves as a wake-up call for long-time team members who may not have fully realized the extent of the work required to compete with the leading teams.