After a phenomenal recovery in the 2023 season, Williams has hit a bit of a rough patch in 2024. With a bout of crashes in consecutive races, the team is struggling to find its first point of the season. However, Mario Andretti trusts team principal James Vowles to help the team recover from their recent slump. The 1978 F1 champion also entrusts the Briton to take the team back to their glory days.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated recently, Andretti said, “Well, James [Vowles] is very experienced. He knows what he needs [to do] and it’s something that sometimes you cannot accomplish overnight.”
Andretti is currently working on a collaborative project with Williams Racing. The legendary F1 team has tied up with Michelob ULTRA to curate a one of its kind groundbreaking racing event, Lap of Legends.
Michelob ULTRA has analyzed data from 720 races with 1,260 hours of footage to replicate the driving styles of F1 legends like Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, and Jenson Button. These digital representations of drivers will compete against Logan Sargeant.
The Williams driver will wear an augmented-reality helmet which will give him a dynamic view of the virtual competition. Sargeant will also have access to real-time data necessary for strategic tweaks during the race.
The 23-year-old must surely be looking forward to this one-of-a-kind virtual racing opportunity. However, his recent form in IRL racing leaves a lot to be desired. Sargeant has also not had the best of lucky in recent times, which hasn’t done him any favors.
James Vowles reacts to recent string of crashes
Owing to the complexity of design and manufacturing, Williams hasn’t carried a spare chassis in recent Grands Prix. The handicap has proven to be costly in the last two races as the team suffered multiple crashes. Team principal James Vowles recently discussed the difficulties they have faced because of the accidents.
Speaking on F1TV’s Japanese GP post-race show, Vowles said, “To have three major accidents, where you’ve pretty much taken all the equipment out of the car, is enormous. Taking that across the season, you can deal with it. Taking across just a few races is difficult. And the impact of it would be what you expect. We’re making spares quickly in the background but ultimately, performance will have an impact on it.”
Alex Albon suffered a heavy crash during the first practice session of the Australian GP. The high-speed impact with the barriers wrecked his chassis beyond repair, which resulted in Williams having to send it back to the factory.
In the absence of a spare chassis, Logan Sargeant had to sacrifice his car for Albon for the remainder of the race weekend. The next Grand Prix in Japan piled more misery on the team as both Sargeant and Albon suffered crashes. While the American crashed during FP1, his Thai teammate had an accident during the race start with Daniel Ricciardo.
Williams has failed to score any points in the first four races of the season and share the bottom place in the standings with Sauber and Alpine. Meanwhile, rivals Visa Cash App RB and Haas are comfortably ahead at the moment with seven and four points, respectively.
