Sargeant apologises to team for “painful” lap one error which ruined home race

Logan Sargeant apologised to his Williams team after a mistake on lap one meant he spent almost his entire home race in last position.

Sargeant did not initially pit following the contact, then came in at the end of lap two. That dropped him to last place, where he remained for the rest of the race.

“I put the car in a place I shouldn’t have in that second sector and took my front wing off,” Sargeant told media including RaceFans afterwards. “That ruined the race from there.”

However Sargeant was pleased to complete the race without a further pit stop. “I think 54 laps on the hard tyre in that last stint was not too bad. We were a bit conservative with the balance at the start, so I had to sort of persevere with that throughout that entire stint.

“But it sucks. It was a mistake on that first lap that ruined our chances. So sorry to the team but I’ll take it on the chin.”

Sargeant, who grew up not far from the Miami International Autodrome, admitted it had been a “painful” first home race. “I hate to see it go that way, but as a whole I still enjoyed the weekend and I’m not going to dwell on it, I’ll just move on.”

The result means Sargeant is still without a point after his first five Formula 1 grands prix. Only one other driver, AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries, remains yet to score.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2023 F1 season

• FIA president cleared of alleged interference in two 2023 races
• First week viewing figures for new Drive to Survive season fall again
• Max who? Drive to Survive season six prefers its favourite faces
• RaceFans’ complete 2023 season review
• The F1 drivers who pulled off the 10 biggest charges through the field in 2023