Logan Sargeant’s first home race of the 2024 season ended in disappointment as he was involved in a collision with Kevin Magnussen on lap 28 at the Miami Grand Prix.
The Floridan driver was having a good weekend in his home state, finishing a strong P10 in the Sprint as he used and managed the soft tyres very well to bank a good result.
In the Grand Prix itself, Sargeant was running a couple of seconds behind teammate Alex Albon and was matching the lap times of his teammate as Williams struggled for pace against their main rivals.
At the beginning of lap 28, Kevin Magnussen on much fresher mediums was attacking the 23-year-old on his 16-lap hards into turn 1. Sargeant managed to cover the inside and got a decent run out of the corner.
However, the Dane did not back down and tried to make a move through turn 3. Sargeant clearly did not know he was there and it ended in contact, sending the Williams into the wall. Magnussen received a 10-second penalty.
Asked about Andrea Stella’s comments when the Italian suggested race bans would be the best option to deter the driving that Magnussen produced in the Sprint, Sargeant says all drivers are competing to do their best.
“I mean at the end of the day we’re all driving as hard as we can for our teams. Sometimes it’s over the limit, sometimes it’s not.
“This particular case, I haven’t seen it back, so there’s nothing for me to say about it.
“Yeah. I think, more so, just a disappointing way to end the weekend. Yeah.”
Expanding on the incident that ended his day, Sargeant explained what happened from his point of view inside the FW46 cockpit.
“Yeah, obviously, I saw him on my outside into one, saw him try to come back into two.
“Went through two, thought he would filter back in, of course. And then we hit, so… yeah.”
Williams had pitted early as they looked to undercut some of their rivals, particularly with Albon. It was going to require a very long stint to make it to the end for both drivers, going over 45 laps on the hard tyre.
Sargeant conceded the FW46 was lacking pace compared to most of their midfield rivals before his day came to an early end.
“Yeah, I think at that point of the race, we were probably both struggling a little bit for pace, but it wasn’t looking too bad.
“The train was starting to form. I think at that point, we were definitely both just managing.
“The people who got to pit under VSC obviously got a lovely treat.”
As well as his good race pace and strong showing in the Sprint, Sargeant was just over a tenth off Albon in qualifying.
Unsurprisingly, Sargeant was pretty content with his weekend’s work until he was taken out.
“But other than that, I think it’s been a good weekend. I feel like I’ve generally been on the pace all weekend.
“Not much more I could have dragged out of it yesterday, not much more I could have done today.
“Just, yeah, sad to finish like that.”
It was a shocking weekend for Kevin Magnussen as he picked up 5 penalty points across the Sprint and Grand Prix, taking him to 10 overall and 2 away from a race ban.
Post-race, Magnussen spoke only 19 words in the written media pen as he was in no mood to talk about his weekend and the collision with Sargeant.
Q: Disappointing race?
Kevin Magnussen: “Yeah.”
Q: Could it have been any worse? A weekend from hell in all respects?
Magnussen: “Yeah, I agree.”
Q: Your view on what happened with Logan?
Magnussen: “I better not comment.”
Q: Clearly not happy?
Magnussen: “No, of course not.”
Q: Feel penalty was incorrect?
Magnussen: “Better not comment.”
Q: I take it you don’t want to comment on Stella’s comments about you [that you deserved a ban after Saturday]?
Magnussen: “You’re right.”
Q: Do you need some answers and clarity on exactly what the racing rules are? They changed for this year but they don’t seem to be completely clear on what’s possible?
Magnussen: “Yeah, [muffled] clarity.”
The Danish driver was slightly more talkative to F1.com, briefly mentioning how difficult his weekend had been and how he will look for some clarity on wheel-to-wheel incidents.
“Not a good day, again.
“Hopefully I can get some clarity on things going forward. What happened today, of course it’s not good, but nonetheless, we try to move on and have a better weekend next weekend.”
Told Sargeant did not see him as they went into turn 3, the 31-year-old says that is part of the game.
“If that’s the case, then, yeah. I got a penalty. He says he didn’t see me, that happens.
“But… I don’t know, yeah.”
