Logan Sargeant said the two penalty points he received on his superlicence in Shanghai for an illegal overtake were “extremely frustrating”.
The Williams driver was hit with a 10-second time penalty after the Chinese Grand Prix for illegally passing Nico Hulkenberg while the Safety Car was deployed.After an investigation, the stewards determined Hulkenberg had crossed Safety Car Line Two on his way out of the pit lane a split-second before Sargeant, meaning the Williams driver should have yielded his position to the Haas driver. Alongside the time penalty, the stewards also gave Sargeant two penalty points on his superlicence, putting him on a total of eight, four away from earning an automatic one-race suspension.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, Sargeant’s home event, he expressed his unhappiness over the Shanghai penalty.
“Mine was extremely frustrating,” he said. “I think the penalty is one thing, to get penalty points for what it was, was a bit of a joke.”
Sargeant’s two penalty points were as many as Lance Stroll received for crashing into Daniel Ricciardo’s RB during the same Safety Car period.
“I think a lot worse things happen throughout the weekend that you just get reprimanded for,” Sargeant continued. “I’ve had people in qualifying slow down in front of me, nearly have huge crashes, and nothing happens.
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“But then when I cross the line at the same time as someone else and you can’t even see it, you get two penalty points. I think it’s not a great direction to be heading in.”
“I think that the penalties, sometimes you already pay the consequences for that,” said Perez. “To add some penalty points – given that we have now more races – I think it’s something that definitely should be looked at.
“Every incident, if you see of all the points that every driver gets, there are a lot of points that are probably over the line. The rule is there but hopefully in the future it’s something that can be reviewed.”
Another driver who collected penalty points in China, Fernando Alonso, is attempting to challenge the decision which went against him. His Aston Martin team have requested stewards review his penalty for colliding with Carlos Sainz Jnr in the sprint race, for which three endorsement points were added to Alonso’s superlicence, putting him on a total of six.
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2024 Miami Grand Prix
- McLaren had superior pace before Verstappen’s damage in Miami – Norris
- Sainz ‘struggles to understand’ why he got penalty when Perez didn’t
- Alonso’s unusual brake problem and more unheard Miami team radio
- McLaren’s Miami upgrade success points to even stronger form in coming races
- Norris expects more wins this year and believes “100%” in 2025 title bid
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
2nd May 2024, 23:06
At least you got some points.
An Sionnach
2nd May 2024, 23:53
As much as I feel for Logan in this case… good one!
An Sionnach
3rd May 2024, 0:02
Drivers with more active penalty points than points. Magnussen has one championship point, the others have none.
Logan Sargeant: 6
Kevin Magnussen: 3
Nyck de Vries: 2
Zhou Guanyu: 2
Valtteri Bottas: 2
Mooa42
3rd May 2024, 1:45
Ricciardo?
An Sionnach
3rd May 2024, 2:11
Yes. Thanks!
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
3rd May 2024, 18:14
I think got 2 penalty points for his crash with stroll in mexico last year, which I was baffled they deemed to be his fault.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd May 2024, 8:08
The only way sargeant gets points is with penalties: when he’s the one to get penalties he gets penalty points and when others get disqualified, he gets a point.
MichaelN
3rd May 2024, 9:35
Don’t mess around under the safety car. It’s not a debate. If they want to play in the big leagues, Williams and Sargeant need to get their act together.
‘Talking back’ is penalized in football, and this should be penalized as well. It demonstrates that neither Williams nor Sargeant has learned their lesson.
osnola
3rd May 2024, 9:55
Nope, he has a point. Its impossible for the driver to notice such a small infraction. So its the team that should coach him there. A 5s penalty on track for not changing the order is oke. But the team should recieve a fine and no penalty points for a driver in a situation he was unable to take any action without teaminfo.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd May 2024, 10:08
osnola Yes, although even more so race control’s responsibility to inform & order a position swap.
Nick T.
3rd May 2024, 15:49
If these points are about crossing the line, that’s not messing around under the SC. Doesn’t really matter though. He needs to be replaced and will, but not soon enough, which is after Miami. American fans couldn’t care less about him, but since Miami is hometown, it makes sense to keep him for this race at least. Knowing he’s financed by the American versions of the Mazepins, makes me even less sympathetic.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd May 2024, 10:09
Receiving penalty points alongside the sporting penalty was indeed a joke, he couldn’t be more right about this.
Nick T.
3rd May 2024, 15:51
100%. What happened wasn’t a choice let alone down to “driving standards.” The stewards always have the flexibility to apply common sense. They clearly didn’t here in applying penalty points.
AlexS
3rd May 2024, 17:49
The stewards are a menace and their behavior risks breaking F1, if it will be between top teams fighting for a championship. 2021 was a high risk (race director in this case) but i expect from what i am seeing to be worse.
Nick T.
3rd May 2024, 18:57
For fun, let’s have an AI steward + live cameras zoomed in on the faces of the top 10 drivers’ most fanatical fans during AI steward decisions.