Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams Racing FW45 crashed out of qualifying. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 17, Japanese Grand Prix, Saturday 23rd September 2023. Suzuka, Japan.
Logan Sargeant will start Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix from the pit lane as a consequence of his crash during qualifying.
Sargeant slid wide through the final corner on his opening push lap in Q1 and crashed out of the session.
Sargeant was set to start from last place on the grid but Williams has been forced to switch him to the spare chassis, which is being built up ahead of the race.
Williams will also equip his car with a spare power unit – which has already been run this season – and a spare gearbox, and will also make changes to run with an experimental set-up.
Sargeant will remain on the old-spec front wing, having been a step behind Alex Albon since Monza, after a fourth accident in as many grands prix.
“I guess inevitably the [crashes] grab the headlines don’t they and are quite visible, they have masked his steady performance,” said Williams’ Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson on Sunday.
“This weekend was actually going really well, it’s such a difficult circuit to come to and find the lap time.
“He went about it really well on Friday, built on that yesterday, then to lose it in the very last corner of the first lap, and really it was quite a minor mistake, but at that corner once you touch the grass, you’re in a whole heap of trouble. It’s a real shame
“The crashes since Zandvoort have masked what otherwise have been some steady improvement.”
Keyword: Sargeant to start Japanese GP from pit lane