Vowles: It was sad just sitting and watching the race

James Vowles, the head of Williams, makes no secret of his upset by the team’s results at the Japanese Grand Prix, where Alex Albon and Logan Sargent were forced to withdraw from the race due to several incidents .

James Vowles: “There are few positives to look at after the weekend in Suzuka. Alex’s race was largely over on the first lap when the underside of his car was damaged by contact with Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo.

At the same time, Alex himself was trying to avoid a collision with another car at the time, and his FW45 suffered very serious damage, and the problems only got worse as the race progressed. We had no choice but to withdraw the car from the race.

Speaking of Logan, he also collided with Valtteri when he locked his brakes and crashed into the left side of the Finn’s car. Sargent’s Williams also suffered damage, making it clear that the race could not continue.

It was very sad to see both our cars in the garage and at the same time just watch the Japanese Grand Prix and see how further events developed on the track that could lead to a change in our position in the championship. We’re just lucky that didn’t happen.

The race went completely different than we would have liked. In addition, the team made certain mistakes during the work process, but in my opinion this is not too bad, because I want to identify all our weaknesses, understand what they are related to and then achieve improvements.

You will become much stronger if you manage to create the right environment in which you can learn from your mistakes; that’s what we want to do.

But the season continues and we will have many more chances to prove that Williams is becoming a worthy opponent, very capable of fighting for positions in the middle of the pack. And we will try to make the most of every opportunity.”