Tag: Logan Sargeant

Williams says car repairable after Sargeant crash; Alpine also confirms lack of spare

Williams is facing another significant repair job to keep two cars running at the Japanese Grand Prix, following Logan Sargeant’s crash in FP1, but the team says the chassis escaped serious damage. Sargeant had to sit out the Australian Grand Prix …

Williams is facing another significant repair job to keep two cars running at the Japanese Grand Prix, following Logan Sargeant’s crash in FP1, but the team says the chassis escaped serious damage.

Sargeant had to sit out the Australian Grand Prix weekend after teammate Alex Albon crashed in FP1 two weeks ago, as Williams does not have a spare chassis and could not repair Albon’s car at the track.

This time around it was the American’s turn to have an incident in the first practice session, as he ran wide at Turn 7 and dipped two wheels onto the grass on the outside of the circuit. Eventually the car broke traction and Sargeant spun at high speed, bouncing across an access road and the gravel before hitting the tire barrier with the nose of the car first.

The car snapped around with the left-rear corner also hitting the barrier before it came to a stop, with the corner impact the type that can cause chassis damage due to the stresses put on the suspension mounting points. However, after the incident, team principal James Vowles confirmed the chassis survived the impact and the car will be able to continue this weekend.

“It’s pretty significant [damage],” Vowles said. “The chassis is OK, fortunately, but I would says pretty much everything else isn’t. So, suspension all-round, gearbox cracked, big damage.

“It’s going to be difficult [to be ready for FP2]. 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.”

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Vowles says the error that caused the crash was an unusual situation of Sargeant being unaware of where he was on track through the blind crest of Turn 7, rather than a result of him trying to prove a point after being withdrawn in Melbourne.

“At the top of the brow of the hill there, he struggled to see where his positioning was on track,” he said. “So it fundamentally looks like he didn’t quite realize where he was, with where the grass was on the outside, and put a wheel on the grass.

“I’ve been chatting to him all week — all these last few weeks in fact — because this is the point you’ve got to keep a driver very close to you. You’ve given them a very difficult situation to deal with, through no fault of their own, but he was honestly in a very good state of mind this week and last night again when I called him around 9-10pm; a really, really strong state of mind.

“He just wanted to get back into the car and get going, but not with the intention of proving to the world that he deserves his seat, just his normal approach to things. What you saw here wasn’t a driver making a mistake because they were pushing to the limit — it’s a very different type of mistake. A very frustrating one by all accounts, because it wasn’t on the limit of what the car could do — there was far more turning potential in there, he just didn’t know where the car was on track, relative to where he expected it to be anyway.

“So I don’t think you’re seeing there the reaction of someone who wasn’t driving in Melbourne, I think you’re seeing more just a situation that could have appeared anytime.”

Williams is not the only team without a spare chassis in Japan, with Alpine team principal Bruno Famin confirming that his team also does not have a spare. While Williams is looking at Miami at the earliest for its spare chassis, Famin says Alpine will have one at the next round in China.

Sargeant gets repaired chassis; Williams without spare until Miami

Logan Sargeant will use the repaired Williams chassis at the Japanese Grand Prix, as the team is not likely to have a spare until Miami next month. Alex Albon’s crash in FP1 in Melbourne exposed Williams’ lack of a third chassis, with the team …

Logan Sargeant will use the repaired Williams chassis at the Japanese Grand Prix, as the team is not likely to have a spare until Miami next month.

Alex Albon’s crash in FP1 in Melbourne exposed Williams’ lack of a third chassis, with the team opting to give Sargeant’s car to Albon for the rest of the race weekend and withdraw the Floridian. The damaged chassis was repaired back at the factory and is ready for the upcoming race in Japan, but Sargeant says there won’t be a back-up in Suzuka or at the next race in China.

“It’s the repaired one, just because the workload to switch the cars back over would be far too much for the mechanics,” Sargeant said of his designated chassis for this weekend. “But the chassis repair went better than expected, so it should be perfectly normal as far as I’m aware. [The spare] should be ready for Miami.”

The repaired chassis is an estimated 100 grams heavier as a result of the work done on it, but Sargeant said the lack of a third option will not play on his mind this weekend.

“I don’t think we had really… at least, I hadn’t thought about it before that,” he said of the lack of a spare. “When I see Alex crash, the first thing that goes through my head is I know we’re down on spares and it’s going to back us up.

“Of course I was a little bit concerned for where we stood as a team, but it’s one of the hard parts that we’ve had to deal with through the start of the season, not having those big safety nets. I think it’s somewhere that as a team we’re really trying to develop to be better and get more on top of that early in the season.

“It’s a situation we had to deal with through the first three races. We went to Saudi with the same situation and of course it’s one of those things that you know you have to be careful, but at the same time, you can’t be. It’s Formula 1 — if you’re careful, you’re nowhere. So it’s really not even a question. You have to be committed, confident and hope nothing goes wrong!”

Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

After dealing with the blow of being unable to race in Melbourne due to Williams team principal James Vowles’ decision to switch the chassis between drivers, Sargeant says he managed to recharge with a spell in Bali and gain perspective of how best to respond.

“I think it’s an absolute necessity a lot of times in the year to be able to find those little gaps to get away from it, be with people who help fill you with energy and keep you going through the season,” he said. “I wouldn’t relate that just to a situation like Melbourne — I think it’s just how you have to break up the season.

“The funny part of that is I probably feel better psychologically. After having a week away, you see things from a different perspective. I’ve had a decent start to the year, it hasn’t shown up in quali yet — I think it would have in Melbourne — so I’m just continuing with that mindset that I’m close to where I need to be. It’s gonna start this weekend.”

Full faith in Sargeant, but repairs uncertain before Suzuka – Vowles

Williams team principal James Vowles says he has full faith in Logan Sargeant despite giving his car to Alex Albon at the Australian Grand Prix, but cannot guarantee the team will have the second chassis repaired in time for the next race in Japan. …

Williams team principal James Vowles says he has full faith in Logan Sargeant despite giving his car to Alex Albon at the Australian Grand Prix, but cannot guarantee the team will have the second chassis repaired in time for the next race in Japan.

Albon crashed in Friday practice in Melbourne and damaged his chassis to the point it couldn’t be repaired at the track, and is returning to the UK. Unusually at this point in the season, Williams does not yet have a spare chassis manufactured, so the decision was taken to give Sargeant’s car to Albon and withdraw the American from the rest of the race weekend. However, Vowles insists it doesn’t show a lack of faith in Sargeant.

“No, I don’t think that’s the case,” Vowles said. “The fact I re-signed him shows you I have faith in him. This year I think you’ve seen he’s been closer to Alex than before.

“However, I have one car, and just one car. There are five very fast teams taking up those top ten positions and there’s no points apart from if you’re in the top ten. There’s one point separating the bottom five teams at the moment, so every point will make a difference between now and the end of the year.

“In that regard, you therefore put your money on the driver who this year has been slightly ahead of the other one, which is Alex. So I’ve reset everything. Taken a view from Bahrain, taken a view from Saudi and taken a view from here which of the two drivers was more likely to score a point.”

Explaining how Williams ended up without a spare chassis even at the third round of the season, Vowles admits it’s due to the changes he is trying to implement in the team.

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“When I started in February last year, the plan was to have three chassis at round one. As we went through large changes in organization, adding performance and technology changes on the back end and processes, we started to push out fundamentally certain elements of things.

“There’s a finite amount of resources and, as we were going through an inefficient structure and making transformation at the same time, we started to cause problems. Those problems, before, could have translated to adding metal components or adding last year’s rear wings.

“In this particular case, the third chassis started to get delayed and delayed and delayed, and I think one of the things were were transparent about both in Bahrain but also on the BBC podcast that we did, we were very late with these cars — very, very late. We pushed everything to the absolute limit.

“The fallout of that is we didn’t have a spare chassis. Even then it was intended to be coming here at round three, but it got delayed and delayed again as other items got pushed back as a result.

“Without doubt, if we go back to root cause, it’s the fact that we’ve added significant processes. We’ve completely changed how we make a chassis. I think I described it the other week in Bahrain that there’s almost 10 times the amount of parts in a chassis compared to last year.

“That’s a level of complexity that takes an organization to a new level. But the ramifications aren’t [that] the third chassis is any more difficult to make. We’ve already made two. It’s more that the knock-on effect from all the work that we’ve done that pushed everything very late has pushed everything else very late.”

When pushed on if he could guarantee that Williams would have the second chassis repaired in time for the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks’ time — with the car set to return to the UK on Monday and the third chassis further delayed — Vowles admits there remains an element of uncertainty.

“Until the chassis is back in the UK and they’ve properly inspected it from not just photos that we have, and NDT (non-destructive testing) that we have here, but properly get into it, no one can give you 100 percent certitude.

“What I can tell you is based on the evidence that we have so far and the work that’s completed overnight, everything looks completely feasible. I’ve seen chassis in worse states come back from this. 100 percent is a difficult number to give you, and as a statistics man I wouldn’t say 100 percent, but I would say there is a very high probability it will all be fine.”

Williams withdraws Logan Sargeant after Alex Albon’s crash in Australia

Williams Racing announced that it has withdrawn Logan Sargeant after Alex Albon’s crash in Australia on Friday.

[autotag]Williams Racing[/autotag] has made a shocking decision ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. [autotag]Alex Albon[/autotag], who wrecked his car in practice, will replace [autotag]Logan Sargeant[/autotag] as Williams failed to bring a third chassis to Melbourne. It is a mind-boggling and unfair decision for Sargeant, who lost his ride in Australia for no reason.

Only 19 cars will be in the race in Australia as Albon continues the race weekend in Sargeant’s entry. Formula 1 teams typically have a third chassis in case the original needs to be replaced, but Williams failed to bring one to Australia. What makes this even more confusing is why Sargeant suffers the consequences of Albon’s actions.

Williams understands that Albon has been better and has more experience than Sargeant, but this move goes against the ethics of owning a race team. Hopefully, Sargeant uses this as motivation to improve and perform better. For Albon, he will try to give Williams points in Australia for the championship battles in 2024

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Sargeant calls Melbourne withdrawal ‘hardest moment in my career’

Logan Sargeant describes having his entry sacrificed by Williams at the Australian Grand Prix as “the hardest moment I can remember in my career.” The American will not take part in the rest of the race weekend in Melbourne because Williams does not …

Logan Sargeant describes having his entry sacrificed by Williams at the Australian Grand Prix as “the hardest moment I can remember in my career.”

The American will not take part in the rest of the race weekend in Melbourne because Williams does not have a spare chassis, and Alex Albon’s crash in FP1 damaged his to the extent that it can’t be repaired away from the team’s factory. With just one usable chassis between two drivers, Williams made the decision to allow Albon (pictured at right, above, with Sargeant) to take over Sargeant’s car, leaving the 23-year-old to watch from the sidelines.

“This is the hardest moment I can remember in my career and it’s absolutely not easy,” Sargeant said. “I am, however, completely here for the team and will continue to contribute in any way that I can this weekend to maximize what we can do.”

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Albon admits he is finding the situation tough himself, but says he needs to reset to try and repay Williams’ faith with a strong performance over the remainder of the weekend.

“I have to be totally honest and say that no driver would want to give up his seat,” Albon said. “I would never want anything like this to happen. Logan has always been a consummate professional and a team player from day one, and this won’t be an easy one for him to take.

“At this point, though, I cannot dwell on the situation and my only job now is to maximize our potential this weekend and work with the whole team to make sure we do the best job possible.”

Williams team principal James Vowles called it “unacceptable in modern day Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis” after seeing his team reduced to one car, with Williams behind on its car build over the winter as new processes and software were put in place.

Albon will not take a penalty for the Australian race as it stands, although any power unit component changes will only be confirmed when the car hits the track for the first time during FP3 on Saturday.

Williams situation ‘unacceptable in modern day Formula 1’ – Vowles

Williams team principal James Vowles says the situation that led to Alex Albon taking over Logan Sargeant’s car at the Australian Grand Prix is “unacceptable in modern day Formula 1,” but also a symptom of the circumstances the team is currently …

Williams team principal James Vowles says the situation that led to Alex Albon taking over Logan Sargeant’s car at the Australian Grand Prix is “unacceptable in modern day Formula 1,” but also a symptom of the circumstances the team is currently facing.

Albon crashed heavily in FP1 and sustained damage to his chassis that could not be repaired ahead of Saturday, but Williams does not have a spare and so has been left with one car for the rest of the race weekend. As a result, it has decided to withdraw Sargeant from the event so that Albon can take over his teammate’s car, and Vowles says the team should not have left itself in such a position.

“We are hugely disappointed that the damage sustained to the chassis has meant we need to withdraw it from the weekend,” Vowles said. “It’s unacceptable in modern day Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis, but it is a reflection of how behind we were in the winter period and an illustration of why we need to go through significant change in order to get ourselves in a better position for the future. As a result, we have had some very difficult decisions to make this afternoon.

“While Logan should not have to suffer from a mistake that he did not make, every race counts when the midfield is tighter than ever, so we have made the call based on our best potential to score points this weekend.

“This decision was not made lightly, and we cannot thank Logan enough for his graceful acceptance, demonstrating his dedication to the team; he is a true team player. This will prove a tough weekend for Williams, and this situation is not one that we will put ourselves in again.”

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Albon scored 27 points for Williams last season as it finished seventh in the constructors’ championship, with Sargeant scoring one 10th place in his rookie year. Melbourne also saw an impressive qualifying performance from Albon last year as he lined up eighth on the grid, although a crash — at the same corner as Friday’s incident — when running sixth cost him a chance of significant points.

The damaged chassis will now be returned to Williams’ headquarters in Grove, UK, for repairs ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in two weeks’ time.

UPDATE: Albon to take over Sargeant’s Williams at Australian GP

UPDATE, 6AM ET: Williams has now confirmed that it will have to withdraw the car crashed by Alex Albon in the opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix. Albon will take over Logan Sargeant’s car for the remainder of the weekend. More …

UPDATE, 6AM ET: Williams has now confirmed that it will have to withdraw the car crashed by Alex Albon in the opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix. Albon will take over Logan Sargeant’s car for the remainder of the weekend. More details to follow.

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Williams is down to one entry at the Australian Grand Prix after Alex Albon’s crash in FP1 that damaged his chassis, as the team lacks a spare this weekend.

Albon crashed exiting Turn 6, the car bottoming out after he ran over the outside curb and hitting the wall on the inside of the track, before then sliding across to the opposite wall ensuring damage to three corners. The team soon confirmed that he would not be taking part in the second session as it analyzed the extent of the damage.

Williams then confirmed to RACER that it doesn’t have a spare chassis at this point in the season, meaning if the chassis cannot be repaired overnight then the team will be down to one car for the remainder of the Melbourne weekend.

“There’s not much that can be salvaged,” Albon said after FP2. “So we’re going through it now, looking at where the damage is. It’s going to be tricky, that’s for sure. Obviously very frustrating for that reason.”

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Explaining the crash, Albon says he was surprised by the car bottoming out again on landing back on track, after hitting the exit curb hard.

“Just exploring a little bit, went a bit wide, had a bit of an aggressive kind of curb strike and it lifted up the front. I honestly didn’t think anything of it at the time, I thought, ‘OK it’s fine, I’ll just back out and let the car land.’ But when I did land, I bottomed out pretty badly, and when it bottomed out, it just kind of spat me.

“So, frustrating. And obviously just feel bad for everyone back at the factory and here at the track. Did a lot of damage, so let’s see if we can get it repaired.”

Albon scored 27 points compared to a solitary point for teammate Logan Sargeant in 2023, and was running in sixth place in Australia last year when he crashed out of the race at the same corner. The Thai-British driver admits he is unsure if he could take over Sargeant’s car for the rest of the weekend if required.

Williams has yet to score this season, with Haas the only of the bottom five teams with a top ten in the opening two races courtesy of Nico Hulkenberg’s 10th place in Jeddah.

Williams signs new agreement for Mercedes power units until 2030

Williams Racing has used Mercedes power units since 2014, and the team extended that agreement even further on Monday.

Williams Racing sees no reason to stop a good thing going.

The Formula 1 team finished 7th in the 2023 season and finished in the points in seven races, netting 28 points — the most it has had in a three-year span. The team did all that with Mercedes engines, and F1 journalist Chris Medland announced on Monday that the team is extending their contract with Mercedes as a customer team until 2030.

Williams initially began to use Mercedes engines in 2014, switching from Renault engines used the two seasons prior.

The new engine agreement will extend beyond the regulation changes for power units coming in 2026, so the move is a bit of risk given a looming change to the engines that will require a larger MGU-K to provide almost triple the electrical power in the engines themselves.

The team has also had a relationship with Mercedes in regard to their drivers. The team was the first F1 step for current Mercedes driver George Russell, who (technically) put the car on a podium at Spa in 2021. For 2024, at least, the team will continue with Thai driver Alexander Albon and American driver Logan Sargeant.

Sargeant confident American fan support will come

Logan Sargeant believes he will receive more support from fans in the United States as he continues to develop and improve as a Formula 1 driver. Sky Sports pundit Danica Patrick raised the point during his rookie season of Formula 1 that Sargeant …

Logan Sargeant believes he will receive more support from fans in the United States as he continues to develop and improve as a Formula 1 driver.

Sky Sports pundit Danica Patrick raised the point during his rookie season of Formula 1 that Sargeant was not so well-known in America because he rose through the European racing scene. The 22-year-old, who recently received confirmation from Williams that he will race with the team again in 2024, agrees that the longer he spends in F1 the more recognition and support he is going to get, although he feels his commitment to racing in Europe should not be viewed negatively in the States.

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“I think the simple fact around it is it should be appreciated, the fact that I put in the hard yards that almost no one will put in because of the sacrifice it takes,” Sargeant told RACER. “And at the end of the day, if there isn’t the support there now then I will get it eventually — there is no doubt about that as I keep improving, it’s just naturally going to come.

“But you don’t get to F1 without putting in the hard yards — moving to Europe, putting in the work — and ultimately, I was the only one that really did that. So that’s why I’m here and others aren’t.”

Although Miami is Sargeant’s home race, the Floridian enjoyed strong results in the other two U.S. rounds as he scored his first point at Circuit of The Americas and qualified a career-best sixth in Las Vegas, where he noted the increase in fans wanting to see him do well.

“From what I heard from the outside there were plenty of cheers, so that’s that’s really cool. And like I said, whether they know me now or they don’t, as I keep moving forward, as I keep progressing, as I keep putting in better results, it will grow naturally and I will eventually get 100% of that support.”

How Sargeant earned his second shot at Williams

It was a very unusual Formula 1 driver market this season, with 19 of the 20 positions being confirmed long before the end of the year. The reasons for that, and the knock-on impact on 2024’s silly season, are worth exploring in a separate feature, …

It was a very unusual Formula 1 driver market this season, with 19 of the 20 positions being confirmed long before the end of the year. The reasons for that, and the knock-on impact on 2024’s silly season, are worth exploring in a separate feature, but being the odd one out must have been frustrating.

The odd one out was the rookie who earlier this year became the first American to score a point in Formula 1 for more than three decades. Logan Sargeant’s result in Austin kicked off a run of improved consistency that eventually earned him a second season with Williams next year.

“I think as of late, I’ve really showed myself that it’s all there to be able to do it,” Sargeant told RACER as he waited for his future to be confirmed. “And from my point of view, that is very nice to know that if I am here next year, I am getting very close to where I need to be.

“But of course, I want to be here. We put in a lot of work over the past – what is it three, two and a half years now? – whatever it’s been. And yeah, I just feel part of the family, for sure. I see a lot of positives for the team moving forward. The goal is to continue that journey with them.”

Goal achieved, although Sargeant had to wait until after the final race before his seat was assured. The point in Austin came when Sargeant benefitted from two disqualifications due to technical infringements, meaning he was on a plane back home to Florida when the news came through. His next race in the United States allowed a more immediate sense of gratification, as he put his Williams alongside teammate Alex Albon on the third row in Las Vegas.

“That was amazing,” he said. “Obviously, Saturday night [the race] wasn’t the best night ever. But other than that, I think it was a really strong weekend through and through. Tricky new circuit, very low grip, difficult to really get a hold of, initially. But it came to us nicely.

“We had a really good car, especially over one lap. And to be able to perform like that over three separate qualifying sessions, to continue to build lap after lap… very happy with my laps as well. So that was that was really good for myself to see as well, putting it together like that.”

Off the back of such a strong showing, it might have made sense for Williams to announce an extension for Sargeant there and then, with limited experienced alternatives appearing to be available and team principal James Vowles insisting he wants to see the 22-year-old succeed.

But Sargeant himself acknowledges there were too many occasions earlier in the season where he created doubts about his ability to deliver on his potential, including his tendency to make errors under pressure.

“I think the tough bits for me have been when the potential has been there, making mistakes, put it in the wall, whatever it may be,” he said. “I mean, it happens – obviously, it’s not what you want to be doing – but there’s only one way to figure it out. There’s only one way to figure out the right approach and mindset that you need to take into session after session, and that’s just building experience.

Sargeant ended the season without any guarantees about his F1 future, but relief came in the form of a new contract from Williams last week. Simon Galloway/Motorsport Images

“Sure, I’ve made some mistakes. But I feel like now I at least have a much better understanding of the approach and mindset that I’m talking about that I needed to have to not make those mistakes in the future.”

On many occasions, those mistakes came at the worst possible time for Sargeant because he was just starting to display signs of progress. At the Dutch Grand Prix, he reached Q3 for the first time but then crashed heavily, while an encouraging start the Japanese Grand Prix weekend was ruined by a costly error at the start of qualifying.

“I think a lot of this year, there’s been difficult moments, changing conditions, being able to get on top of those quite nicely [has been encouraging],” he said. “Zandvoort qualifying, for example, bar Q3, but then even going to new tracks like Suzuka, Singapore, places I’ve never been to and just really enjoying those tracks.

“I felt like I was able to get on top of them pretty quickly, which is also really nice for me. That kind of helped me when we went to Vegas, because it was finally the first time that everyone else had a track that they hadn’t been to and all of a sudden they’re in my territory, I guess you can say.

“It just puts them into what I’ve been doing the whole year. I think that also showed and helped me – it sort of put me on an equal playing field, and then you see what happens.”

It was only at the penultimate race that Sargeant truly showed he can deliver on his potential, and doing so when his future was still up in the air was another positive that helped him end up on the right side of Williams’ decision for 2024. That’s a decision that was led by a team principal who wasn’t in place when the American was signed late last season, with Vowles taking over from Jost Capito ahead of this year, but Sargeant has felt the support from his current boss.

“Honestly, it was a bit out of nowhere at the start of the year, for myself of obviously the change from Jost to James,” he said. “But it was honestly such a smooth transition. I immediately got on really well with [Vowles] – both me and Alex.

“Just having that racing mentality, that driver mindset, understanding the human element of it, understanding the driving side of it, just made it really easy to connect on that level of being a driver. And obviously he tries to help me along the way the best he can, the best way that we move forward both together and for myself.

“Other than that, I think the positive impact he’s had on the team throughout the year [is clear]. The momentum, I feel like we’re moving forward with, and the optimism for the future as well. I feel like it’s all been a really positive year for the team.”

Rounding out 2023 in seventh place in the constructors’ championship certainly was an solid result for Williams, which appears to be building momentum under Dorilton Capital’s ownership. Now Sargeant himself has built up enough momentum of his own to remain a part of that journey for another year at least.