Max Verstappen and Logan Sargeant: two drivers at opposite ends of the F1 field

Footage from F1’s cooldown room has revealed the hilarious moment Max Verstappen made a quip about Williams’ spare chassis woes after the Miami Grand Prix.

Williams have endured a troubled start to the F1 2024 season,with the Grove-based outfit one of two teams yet to score a point so far this year.

Max Verstappen’s hilarious Williams spare chassis quip

The team’s woes slumped to a low point at the Australian Grand Prix, where Alex Albon’s crash in opening practice forced Williams – without a spare chassis across the opening series of flyaway races – to run just a single car for the remainder of the weekend.

That resulted in the controversial call by Williams team principal James Vowles to withdraw Logan Sargeant, allowing Albon to take over the American driver’s car in Melbourne to enhance the team’s hopes of scoring points.

Albon just missed out on scoring at Albert Park, coming home 11th, with Williams having a spare chassis on site for the first time in F1 2024 in Miami last weekend.

And the memories of Australia were clearly not far from Verstappen’s mind in the cooldown room in Florida, where the screen behind the top-three finishers played highlights of the race – including the moment Sargeant was punted into retirement by Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.

As Sargeant’s car makes contact with the wall, destroying his rear wing, Verstappen is heard quipping: “At least they have a spare chassis now, right?”

Verstappen’s remark went down a storm among F1 fans, who reacted to the moment on Twitter.

Another remarked: “He’s so funny and real.”

Albon welcomed the arrival of a spare chassis in Miami, claiming Williams will now be able to prioritise improving performance in the weeks ahead.

He said: “It’s been a lot of effort from the team, it feels like we’ve been playing catch up for most of the year, now with the chassis things are becoming a little bit more settled.

“Hopefully we can really start focusing more on updates and general developments of the car.”

Albon rejected the notion that the spare chassis has come as a relief, reiterating his view that he could not allow the absence of a safety net to influence his driving in the early weeks of the new season.

He added: “It sounds bad of me to say but I don’t [see it as a relief]. I don’t think about it.

“I think I’ve said it before but if you start thinking about it you’re already kind of at a loss. You can’t let it [impact] your weekend.”