American Logan Sargeant CRASHES out of first practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix and risks missing ANOTHER F1 race... as Williams team principal James Vowles confirms there is 'significant damage' to the car

Logan Sargeant was left sweating over the prospect of a second successive race on the sidelines after suffering a heavy crash in first practice at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Williams driver was forced to sit out the Australian Grand Prix after team-mate Alex Albon damaged his chassis in practice in Melbourne. With no spare bodywork available, team principal James Vowles made the contentious call for Albon to race with the American’s car.

Sargeant had only been back out on track driving the patched-up chassis in Japan for a short while before his session was brought to an abrupt end when he lost control of his car at the high-speed Dunlop corner.

After running slightly wide onto the grass at the end of Suzuka’s famous Esses section, the Williams driver was sent for a bumpy ride across the gravel before spinning and colliding nose-first with the tyre wall.

The incident left Sargeant potentially facing the indignity of missing a second race in a row. But Vowles allayed those fears, revealing that the chassis avoided the brunt of the impact.

Logan Sargeant crashed out of P1 in Japan after losing control at the high-speed Dunlop corner

The Williams driver was forced to sit out the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago 

‘It’s pretty significant (damage). The chassis is OK, fortunately, but I would say pretty much everything else isn’t,’ said Vowles.

‘Suspension cracked, gearbox cracked. It’s going to be difficult (to get the car ready for second practice), we’ll obviously do our utmost to try and get the car back out there again but the damage is extensive.’

Yesterday the 23-year-old driver insisted he would not be taking any extra care despite his team’s precarious position with spare parts, saying: ‘You know you have to be careful, but at the same time, you can't be. It's Formula One. If you're careful, you're nowhere.'

He added: ‘So it's really not even a question. You have to be committed, confident, and hope nothing goes wrong.’

Vowles was adamant that Sargeant’s crash in Japan was not caused by the American feeling pressure to impress following his acrimonious demotion in Melbourne.

‘At the top of the brow of the hill he struggled to see where his positioning was on the track,’ Vowles explained. ‘Fundamentally it looks as though he didn’t quite realise where he was, where the grass was on the outside.

‘I’ve been chatting to him all these last few weeks because this is the point where you’ve got to keep a driver very close to you. You’ve given them a very difficult situation to deal with.

Williams team principal James Vowles confirmed there was 'significant damage' to the car

‘But honestly he was in a very good state of mind this weekend and last night when I called him about 9 or 10pm. Really strong in his state of mind just wanting to get back into the car and get going but not with the intention of proving to the world he deserves his seat. It was just his normal approach to things.

‘What you saw here wasn’t a driver making a mistake because he was pushing to the limit. It’s a different type of mistake, a frustrating one by all accounts because he wasn’t on the limits of what the car could do.

‘I don’t think we’ve seen there a reaction of someone who didn’t drive in Melbourne, it was more just a situation that could’ve appeared at any time.’