While Williams have had a positive climb up the standings this year, after years of being mired at the bottom, sometimes barely scoring points in an entire season, their 28 points have them in 7th place in the Constructors’ Championship with two events to go. However, the threat from AlphaTauri is now very real.
Of those 28 points, 27 of them were scored by Alex Albon. The one remaining point was secured by Logan Sargeant at the United States Grand Prix last month.
Photo Credit: Williams Racing
In a race where 6 drivers failed to finish on Sunday, Sargeant crossed the line in P11, 16.3s away from Esteban Ocon, and one lap down from the victor, Max Verstappen.
While his F1 future may not be secured, this would have been his opportunity to score points for the Grove team, especially since his teammate Alex Albon crashed out at turn 1 at the beginning of the race.
While the American took time to analyze his race, he says that this was not any of his own doing, rather just a general lack of pace from the car. The pace of the FW45 has definitely been up and down this year, depending on the circuit the F1 circus goes to.
“Honestly, I’m disappointed. Don’t really blame myself, we just missed pace today. We didn’t have what we needed to fight with the AlphaTauris, to fight with the Alpines.
“Just had a lot of rear overheating. Really struggled to keep the rears under me, and yeah, just wasn’t quick enough. Other than that, kept it clean, did my best.
“Unfortunately, Alex went out in turn 1, which was a shame, obviously a lot of damage there, but we’ll get ready for Vegas and try to be better then.”
Sargeant continued to display content with keeping it on the track, giving himself credit for the pace he delivered during his middle stint that lasted 27 laps on soft tyres, while also conceding the last one could have been better.
He continued to reiterate that the car was simply not fast enough for points.
“I think my middle stint was solid. The last one just in the clean air, we just had a little bit too much of a forward balance, so we could’ve been better there.
“But, at the end of the day, no matter what we did, we wouldn’t have had the pace to score. Happy to have kept it clean, happy to have had 71 laps in, just disappointed we couldn’t capitalise on a race where a lot of cars went out.
“Another well-rounded Sunday, just regroup, we had the low fuel pace this weekend so we’ll go and deliver that in Vegas and try to have another good race.”
Photo Credit: Williams Racing
When reflecting on his triple-header, which consisted of Austin, Mexico City and Interlagos, Sargeant said that he did a good job overall all things considered, especially as he scored his first F1 point.
But qualifying is an area he still wants to get right.
“I’m pleased. I think there are things I could’ve done better. I had really good pace on Friday this weekend. One mistake… I’m 3 tenths off and miss Q2.
“It’s the little things. Everything’s there. It’s just disappointing when it doesn’t quite come together.
“But I think we’ve had 3 strong Sundays, the pace has been where it needed to be for our package.
“It’s coming together, just need to keep building on it. 2 races to go. Going to make them count.”
While Sargeant has a point to his name, he is still 21st in the Drivers’ Championship, as Liam Lawson scored 2 points when he stood in for Daniel Ricciardo.
