Sargeant entered the Japanese GP weekend with a fire in his belly after he was forced to sit out the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago to allow Albon – who had destroyed his chassis in FP1 – to race.

Ahead of the session, the American racer said: “In Formula One, if you’re careful, you’re nowhere. So it’s really not even a question. You have to be confident and hope nothing goes wrong.”

Unfortunately for Sargeant, things quickly went wrong on Friday. The 23-year-old dipped his right-hand wheels on the Dunlop Curve grass, spinning at high speed into the barrier.

While the crash occurred at a high-speed section of the Suzuka International Circuit, Sargeant critically avoided picking up significant damage to the chassis of his Williams car.

The Grove-based team are once again without a spare chassis in Japan this weekend, so a more extreme crash would have ensured that for the second race weekend in succession, the team would have started with one car.

Discussing the extent of the damage, Vowles said: “It’s pretty significant. The chassis is okay, fortunately, but I would say pretty much everything else isn’t. So suspension all around, gearbox cracked, big damage.

“It’s going to be difficult. We’ll obviously do our utmost to try and get the car back out there again, but the damage is extensive. So it will take a while.”

Due to the extensive repair job the team faced following the crash, Sargeant was unable to take part in FP2 later on Friday. However, with light rain disrupting the session, he didn’t miss out on much.

Williams’ nerves will continue throughout the weekend and into the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. Vowles has confirmed that the team will once again be without a spare chassis when F1 racing returns to Shangai in two weeks.