Formula 1 in 2023 is incredibly close through most of the field, and it got even closer today from the front to the back.
Once again, Logan Sargeant fell just on the wrong side of things at the end of Q1. After outpacing Alex Albon in final practice, the American driver couldn’t quite make as big a step forward in qualifying as his teammate.
The Thai found 1.2s from his FP3 best to finish a sensational P3 in Q1. Sargeant missed out on Q2 by 0.059s as he made a gain of ‘only’ 0.7s.
The Floridian admitted it was a surprise at how competitive Williams ultimately were in qualifying following a difficult FP3 where they P17 and P18.
He was also satisfied with his own driving,
“From where we were in free practice, we didn’t expect to be as competitive as we were, especially Alex, that was amazing to be honest.
“I’ve been happy with how I’ve been driving all weekend, I was comfortable in FP2, comfortable in FP3, and even then I honestly felt like I delivered a good lap there at the end.
“But yeah, obviously not quite enough so we’ll have to see what happened there. But as a whole I’m happy with how the past two days have gone.”
Although Sargeant was just over 0.4s slower than his stablemate, it was the difference of 13 places and whether you comfortably made it through or just got knocked out.
He described the small gaps between so many drivers as insane.
“I mean it’s small margins, from P3 to P16, what was it, three and a half tenths that, something like that, it’s insane.”
Sargeant was clearly impressed by the speed of F1 cars around the streets of Monte Carlo compared to the F2 machinery he raced in last year.
“I love the build-up through the weekend. It’s crazy how fast it feels around here, it’s honestly impressive. I enjoy every single one of these laps. Yeah, keeps you on the edge of your seat that’s for sure, and focus is insane.”
Points seem extremely unlikely tomorrow for the 22-year-old. Nonetheless, he has one clear objective in mind.
“I mean realistically it’s probably going to be a long day off of P16, but I haven’t executed a full clean weekend yet, so that has to be the goal.
“Just have a good start, good race pace, and keep my nose clean, and if I can do that I’ll be happy.”
Photo credit: Williams Racing
