Why is the Williams Formula One Team racing to fix Alboro’s crashed Subaru?

Because the team doesn’t currently have a backup chassis, it was decided to put the Thai driver in Logan Sargeant’s car and put the American on the sidelines after his horrific collision in Friday’s Formula One in Australia.

James Vowles, the team principal, has revealed that the third chassis is still so far behind schedule that the team will fix the wrecked tub instead of rushing its completion.

It is scheduled to arrive at the Grove factory early on Monday morning after being flown back to the UK.

The team’s current predicament is a direct result of the antiquated procedures that Vowles and his chief technical officer Pat Fry witnessed when they watched the FW46 come together at the eleventh hour.

Creating two full race vehicles and spares, along with the modifications scheduled for the first three races, consumed all available resources against a backdrop of continuous efforts to modify and update procedures. The third chassis was significantly delayed.

To his credit, Vowles has been quite transparent about what happened in Melbourne, including the tough choice to bench Sargeant and the broader set of flaws that put the squad in such a dangerous position.

“The idea was to have three chassis at round one when I started in February of last year,” he says.

“As we underwent significant organizational changes, including adjustments to performance and technology at the back end and processes, we began to remove some essential components of things.

Resources are limited in number. And we began to produce issues since we were undergoing an ineffective structure and undergoing transformation at the same time.

“And those earlier issues might have been resolved by using metal [instead of carbon] components or the back wings from the previous year.” In this instance, there was a persistent delay beginning with the third chassis.

And one of the things, I believe, that we have been open about is that we were extremely, extremely late with these automobiles. Everything was pushed to its utmost. As a result, we were left without a spare chassis.

At round three, even then, it was supposed to be arriving here. However, it kept getting delayed.

To put it simply, the team’s efforts to enhance workflow and produce a better car during the winter months essentially made their lives more difficult.

“We’ve added significant processes, and we’ve completely changed how we make a chassis, if you go back to the root cause,” adds Vowles.

“A chassis now has nearly ten times as many parts as it did the previous year.” That kind of intricacy elevates an organization to a new plane.

Vowles acknowledges that the crew should not have put itself in this predicament with no backup chassis and no safety net.

In contemporary Formula One, he claims, “no team intends to not have a third chassis.” “With Brawn GP, I had that last year in 2009.” That was the last occasion I didn’t own three vehicles. We were fortunate to win the championship that year, as losing a car could have easily cost us the victory.

That’s not what you intend to do. Not having to have two of your cars out on the track next to each other fighting is just wrong.

“With all we are doing right now, we are behind schedule, which is why things have happened the way they have. We’re pushing something out the back while we attempt to process systems and transform. It’s the third chassis in this instance.

“We have further things and upgrades scheduled. However, in order to maintain the pace we have on the third chassis and updates, I have to redirect the entire staff toward putting this chassis in good condition. Without a doubt, something will give.”

The first three racing weekends have been like Russian roulette for Vowles and his engineers, since everyone knows that a significant accident might set off the terrifying sequence of events that has been playing out.

Vowles realized there might be an issue as soon as he watched the extent of Albon’s collision on TV replays, and his concerns were confirmed when the wreck was brought back to the paddock.

He says, “The engine’s done, fundamentally; the gearbox was cracked in two yesterday, and the engine mounts were completely bent.”

The closest way to describe it is that the chassis where the suspension enters on the front right corner is completely destroyed. Just to be clear, I can insert my finger into the chassis, something you shouldn’t be able to do.