Ouch! Williams has kicked Logan Sargeant out of his car for the Australian GP

If Logan Sargeant wasn’t already aware that he plays second fiddle to Alex Albon at Williams, he’ll certainly know now. That’s because the American driver has been unceremoniously booted from his car for this weekend’s Australian GP after Albon crashed in practice.

“Following Alex Albon's accident during FP1 at the Australian Grand Prix, Williams Racing confirms that due to the extensive damage sustained, it is forced to withdraw the chassis for the remainder of the Grand Prix,” reads the team’s statement. 

“This chassis will be returned to the team's HQ at Grove for repair. Due to the fact that a third chassis is unavailable, the team can confirm it has taken the decision for Alex to compete for the remainder of the weekend in the chassis that Logan Sargeant drove in FP1 and FP2.”

If you ever needed more confirmation that F1 is a brutal sport, there it is. Of course, given recent form Albon is probably more likely to score points in Australia, but neither Williams driver has finished in the top 10 in the previous two races this season and it was hardly Sargeant’s fault that Albon crashed.

“This is the hardest moment I can remember in my career and it's absolutely not easy,” said Sargeant. “I am however completely here for the team and will continue to contribute in any way that I can this weekend to maximise what we can do.”

We bet he’s absolutely seething behind closed doors.

“I have to be totally honest and say that no driver would want to give up his seat. I would never want anything like this to happen. Logan has always been a consummate professional and a team player from day one, and this won't be an easy one for him to take,” said Albon. “At this point though, I cannot dwell on the situation and my only job now is to maximise our potential this weekend and work with the whole team to make sure we do the best job possible.”

Albon, who was uninjured in his FP1 smash, will certainly be feeling the pressure come 4am (UK time) on Sunday morning.

“We are hugely disappointed that the damage sustained to the chassis has meant we need to withdraw it from the weekend,” said Williams team boss James Vowles. “It's unacceptable in modern day Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis, but it is a reflection of how behind we were in the winter period and an illustration of why we need to go through significant change in order to get ourselves in a better position for the future.

"As a result, we have had some very difficult decisions to make this afternoon. While Logan should not have to suffer from a mistake that he did not make, every race counts when the midfield is tighter than ever, so we have made the call based on our best potential to score points this weekend.”