Will Williams have two cars at the Japanese Grand Prix after Logan Sargeant crash?

Williams suffered another scare at the Japanese Grand Prix after Logan Sargeant crashed his FW46 during FP1 at Suzuka, sparking concerns that they will only be able to run one car come lights out for the second race in a row.

During the first practice session in Japan, Sargeant lost control at the high-speed Dunlop corner after putting his right-hand wheels on the grass, suffering a heavy impact with the barriers, ruling him out of FP2.

There was extensive damage done to the car’s nose, gearbox and suspension – but much to the relief of Williams – the American’s chassis was not damaged.

The Grove-based F1 outfit could only run one car at the Australian Grand Prix, after Sargeant sacrificed his seat following Alex Albon’s crash in practice, damaging the chassis beyond repair.

Without a third chassis available to the team, James Vowles had to make the brutal decision of telling Sargeant that Albon would be driving his car for the rest of the weekend, despite it not being the 23-year-old’s fault.

Team principal Vowles has since confirmed that despite the nasty-looking shunt, Sargeant’s chassis has remained intact.

“It’s pretty significant,” Vowles said when asked about the damage. “The chassis is okay, fortunately, but I would say pretty much everything else isn’t. So suspension all round, gearbox cracked, big damage.

“It’s going to be difficult. We’ll obviously do our utmost to try and get the car back out there again [for FP2], but the damage is extensive. So it will take a while.”

Sargeant has also revealed that he is using Albon’s repaired chassis from the Australian Grand Prix, with his teammate keeping the American’s original car – with the team expecting for a third chassis to be available at the Miami Grand Prix in May.

Sargeant was sidelined for FP2 as the repairs were carried out, but was okay to take part in qualifying. However, he was unable to make it out of Q1, as he lines up in P19 for lights out, with Albon further ahead in 14th.