Logan Sargeant CRASHES out of P1 in Japan in another nightmare for Williams and red flags the session… as team principal James Vowles confirms there is ‘significant damage’ to his car

Logan Sargeant crashed during the first practice session in Japan, causing a temporary red flag.

The American swerved and crashed into the wall at the fast Dunlop corner, rendering his car unusable for the remainder of the session.

This comes after teammate Alex Albon made the same mistake in Australia, leaving Williams with just one car for the GP.

In that scenario, Vowles opted to have Albon race in Sargeant’s car.

Sargeant was driving the same chassis that Albon crashed in Australia when he lost control in Japan this morning. He said he was “fine” over the team radio.

“It’s pretty significant (the damage),” team manager James Vowles confirmed. ‘Fortunately the chassis is fine, but I would say almost everything else is not.

‘Suspension all round, gearbox broken. Great damage.

“It’s going to be difficult (to prepare his car for second position). Obviously we will do everything we can to try to get the car back there, but the damage is significant, so it will take a while.

He said he had spoken to his sergeant. ‘At the top of the hill, he struggled to see where his position was on the track.

“Basically, it seems like he didn’t realize where he was and where the grass was outside.

“I’ve been chatting to him all week, in fact all these last few weeks, because this is the main time when you have to keep a driver very close to you. “You’ve given them a very difficult situation to deal with.

“But honestly, he was in a really good mood this week, last night when I called him around 9 or 10 at night, he was really strong, he just wanted to get back in the car and keep going.”

‘What you saw here was not a driver making a mistake because I think they were pushing the limit. It’s a very different type of mistake and clearly frustrating because it wasn’t within the limits of what the car could do. There was much more potential for change.

“I just didn’t know where the car was on the track relative to where I expected it to be.”

Max Verstappen finished with the fastest time in P1, 1:30.056, while his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez did +0.181s.