Williams driver Logan Sargeant admits his crash in the opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix was due to a “silly” error.
Sargeant ran wide through the uphill left-hander of the Dunlop Curve mid-way through first practice, running onto the grass and spinning into the barrier.The Williams driver missed the second practice session due to the damage sustained in the accident. However this proved not to be too great a disadvantage as his rivals did almost no representative running was completed in the damp second session.
Sargeant admitted that his accident was not a result of him pushing too hard, but that he lost track of where his car was positioned on the road.
“I just put the car in a place I didn’t realise I was at,” Sargeant told the official F1 channel. “It’s a bit of a silly error, to be honest – one that I shouldn’t be making, especially in FP1.”
He said the crash was different to the one he had at the same track last year during qualifying.
“But fortunately, it wasn’t like the mistake last year. It wasn’t an over-pushing thing, but nevertheless still left the team with some damage. But fortunately got away better than it could have been.”
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Williams team principal James Vowles confirmed Sargeant’s chassis was not damaged in the accident. However it leaves the team facing its second major repair job in two rounds, following Alexander Albon’s crash in practice in Melbourne.
“If anything, I came into this round after a week off feeling more fresh and ready to go than ever,” he said. “So no, no confidence lost.
“I wanted to kick myself a little bit after today, but, nothing to do with that. Just a visual error that I’ll move forward on from tomorrow.”
Vowles said that Sargeant’s error was a “frustrating” one, due to the fact that his driver had not been on the limit when the accident occurred.
“What you saw here wasn’t a driver making a mistake because I think they were pushing to the limit,” Vowles said. “It’s a very different type of mistake, a 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 that wasn’t driving in Melbourne. I think you’re seeing more just a situation that could have appeared at any time.”
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2024 Japanese Grand Prix
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- Ferrari’s strategy gains in 2024 are “purely down to the car” – Sainz
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- Japan was first race where Red Bull’s winning margin was bigger than last year
Jonathan Parkin
5th April 2024, 9:59
It does bare repeating but Williams can’t really afford all these crashes. The main reason why Brawn GP had Jenson and Rubens in the car was because they made very few unforced errors. In fact I believe they only had one crash that year which wasn’t of Jenson’s making
BasCB (@bascb)
5th April 2024, 12:01
Indeed. And it seems that Sargeant will now have to do the rest of the weekend with an older spec front wing, because they had only the 2 pieces of them available.
Asd
5th April 2024, 10:08
Did Williams bring a spare car for this weekend? Asking for a friend.
MichaelN
5th April 2024, 10:16
No, they don’t. Neither does Alpine, for that matter; Bruno Famin said so at the team press conference yesterday.
Jere (@jerejj)
5th April 2024, 10:44
MichaelN I thought Williams was the only one.
Surprising that more than one team, even as a one-off thing, fails at always having a spare monocoque on site in this day & age, even a decently big team like Team Enstone.
MichaelN
5th April 2024, 11:50
Yeah, that was a bit surprising. Famin said they’ll have one ready for the next race.
Wolff’s anwer was also quite interesting. He said: “I remember times, even at Mercedes, where it was difficult to get that third one out at the beginning of the season, so we were running that risk at well. And certainly in my time at Williams, I don’t think we had any spare chassis for most of the season.”
AlanD
5th April 2024, 15:46
I seem to remember that in previous seasons, although teams might have had more spare cars, they’d often be in transit, on their way to GPs. They’d still be racing at one track whilst a container was on its way to the next track. I think part of the logic of the calendar revisions was so that they didn’t need so many spares. I’m pretty sure this included the car chassis.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
5th April 2024, 17:13
Does said friend hope to get some running in place of sargeant?
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
5th April 2024, 10:34
karma is real.
dot_com (@dot_com)
5th April 2024, 12:42
It’s hardly karma. If anything, it shows that Williams probably made the right choice in Australia.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
5th April 2024, 15:47
Not really, since it was Albon that caused that situation in the first place and didn’t score a single point.
There’s no redemption to be had. Albon crashed and ruined his car leaving Williams, who seem poorly managed, with only one car left for the weekend. Williams made a call to give Albon preference, and it got them nothing.
Vowles can blame Excel sheets all day and all night, but he’s been at that that team for 15 months so all of this is still on him. Starting with signing Sargeant to a race seat for this year when he clearly has no faith in him.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
5th April 2024, 18:07
It’s worth doing an attempt, they did and got close, sargeant = no points.
Jere (@jerejj)
5th April 2024, 10:42
A silly & unforced error in a non-competitive session, like Albon’s in Melbourne, but at least no monocoque damage, which is the most important thing under the team’s current circumstances.
PacificPR (@streydt)
5th April 2024, 10:53
The decision to push for a completely new design of this years car has definitely backfired. They have left themselves so vulnerable, if bad luck strikes they won’t be able to race at all at the next race(s) and what will happen than – will they be excluded from the championship? Anyway I don’t understand why didn’t stick with the old car for the first part of the season and introduce a new car after the summer break or so. Now they will be on the back-foot all season long (in the best case scenario)…
CarWars (@maxv)
5th April 2024, 11:14
Its a risk vs reward calculation. The new car hopefully brings something. In the end the risk is low they only need one working car for Albon, they have mitigated that risk by having a second car that Sargeant drives. This only fails when Sergeant crashes of course.
PacificPR (@streydt)
5th April 2024, 11:43
Well of course but if for example Albon gets caught up in an accident or damages his car. It’s a huge risk.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
5th April 2024, 11:41
Andretti should have been allowed to buy them out. The team has no means, and leadership that doesn’t understand respect or responsibility. Blaming things on excel sheets, or not doing things right the first time. These people don’t understand manufacturing, they have no business overseeing projects like this, and are only the product of corrupt business practices that destroyed the team formerly known as Williams. What ever “Williams” are, they have nothing to do with the history of the sport or excellence.
Nick T.
5th April 2024, 12:06
It’s not the job of a day fixing a team that had decayed that far. I want Andretti, but your reaction nears insane. James Vowles, Pat Fry and many other big names at Williams know 50x more about producing an F1 car than anyone at Andretti, which has never had to manufacturer continuous updates. How quickly you forget that Williams beat AT, Haas and Sauber last season.
It’s really Sargeant who has no place in F1. Let’s also not forgot this is the guy Lawson couldn’t beat in F2 who people are extremely hyped about.
Basically, get a grip. You sound like an Alpine board member with their knee jerk firings of entire teams.
MXMXD (@mxmxd)
5th April 2024, 16:25
… Lawson has beaten Sargeant in their lone F2 season, despite having significantly more mechanical DNF’s than Sargeant (something like 5 to 1 if my count is right).
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
5th April 2024, 18:37
Ah, ok, as it would be incredibly difficult to read junior records if sargeant had beaten lawson, who looks a lot better in f1 too.
Nick T.
5th April 2024, 21:01
Sorry, Lawson was ahead by a single point…
Erkr
6th April 2024, 0:56
Lawson had only 3 dnfs, and he was in his 2nd season. So not a great showing from Lawson despite everyone’s praise
Nick T.
6th April 2024, 8:32
@Erkr I won’t even mind if Lawson gets in just so people can once again relearn the mistake of creating massive hype over one lucky result. Surely, many of the F2 champs and others who finished ahead of him deserve a chance before him as well.
Nick T.
5th April 2024, 12:08
With 2026 so close and what seemed like a pretty solid platform, I also found this an odd decision. They’ve lost their only strength. The straight line speed.
Equity.Seeker
5th April 2024, 13:09
It’s about time for Williams to show Sargeant the way out. Too many “silly” mistakes that cost valuable points for the team. Drugovich could be an excellent alternative for a mid-season change.
Jere (@jerejj)
5th April 2024, 19:51
If Williams were truly interested in him, they would’ve offered him a drive for last season already instead of prioritizing Sargeant.
Besides, he wouldn’t necessarily even be an improvement.
rpiian (@rpiian)
5th April 2024, 15:51
Can’t wait for them to explain their next crash
stefano (@alfa145)
5th April 2024, 16:08
what does he mean “especially in FP1”? he should say “especially in F1”
An Sionnach
5th April 2024, 17:19
On the bright side, it’s a bit of a bonus for the sponsors, especially the smaller ones that are difficult to read when the car is moving. A good day for Purestream, who are driven to win. Unless they crash. Or don’t crash and come last.
https://www.purestream.tech/driven-to-win/
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
5th April 2024, 23:17
Was it a Komatsu crane loading the Komatsu-sponsored Williams onto the flatbed?
Gusm.ai
6th April 2024, 1:50
Komatsu-ception
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
5th April 2024, 18:39
Btw, I wanted to point out, many of you kept saying stuff like “what if albon crashes in the race too at melbourne?”, and he didn’t, but like I said the other time, it’s not like sargeant isn’t crash prone, there’s nothing sargeant can do better than albon, and has a lot less speed.
Mark (@blueruck)
5th April 2024, 19:29
Ideally teammates push each other and produce better results.
I was hopeful Sargent was going to come back this year and look stronger. If I was in charge at Williams he would have until summer break to show his potential. Otherwise someone else goes in the seat, points will be the same, none. Get ready for 2025.
Paul
6th April 2024, 2:00
“Williams driver Logan Sargeant admits his crash in the opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix was due to a silly error.”
That error being putting Logan in to the car for this season.
PlosslF1
6th April 2024, 2:43
Looks like Sargeant done a bit of a Glock 2009, car wasn’t quite pointing in the direction they thought it was when they planted the throttle…