PALMER: Why Williams never should have handed Sargeant’s car to Albon in Melbourne

Williams were in the headlines for the wrong reasons in Melbourne, after it emerged they could only run one car for the Grand Prix after Alex Albon’s first practice crash.

Teams delay the build of their cars until late on in pre-season to maximise the design process, before locking in the decisions and creating the car. This year Williams did this more than the rest, only hitting the track the day before the opening test of the year, in what was billed as an aggressive move by the team with a change of concept from last season’s design.