Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams Racing. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 14, Dutch Grand Prix, Saturday 26th August 2023. Zandvoort, Netherlands.
Logan Sargeant attributed his Dutch Grand Prix exit to a power steering failure after his race on Sunday came to a premature end.
Sargeant crashed out of his maiden Q3 appearance on Saturday though was able to preserve his top 10 starting spot after Williams performed extensive overnight repairs.
Sargeant opted to stay out through the opening phases of the race on Sunday amid rainfall but slithered to the back of the field.
The American went off through Turn 8 after 15 laps and believes the hydraulics – and consequently power steering – failed after hitting the entry kerb.
“It was a tricky first 15 laps, just being too cautious, not wanting to crash after what happened yesterday,” said Sargeant.
“I was losing a bit too much tyre temperature in those conditions and then ultimately losing too much tyre temperature cost me a lot of time.
“Apart from that, I was starting to get back into a rhythm as the track was drying, I touched the apex curve at Turn 8, and I lost hydraulics and power steering and that just sent me off and once I touched the damp stuff there was no recovery.
“I’m not sure why exactly that happened, it’s something we need to look into, but I’m just disappointed for everyone after the effort, and disappointed for the team, another destroyed car.”
Sargeant insisted he had “used [the Turn 8 kerb] all weekend to be honest, and it wasn’t like I was hitting it crazy hard,” and did not believe he did anything differently on that lap.
Sargeant conceded he will need “24 hours or so” to digest a topsy-turvy event.
“Everyone was still super proud we made it to Q3, but it was a great weekend up to that point, but they didn’t blame me for pushing – it was Q3, we were just happy to be there for the first time this year, definitely encouragement there,” he said.
“Today’s a completely different situation but at the end it’s the same outcome and that’s not a good one, so… just… not much more to add, just a tough one.”
Keyword: Power steering failure triggered Sargeant’s accident