F1: Logan Sargeant matched Lando Norris in Bahrain qualifying

by Mark Cipolloni

This weekend Williams F1 American rookie Logan Sargeant is making his F1 debut and his qualifying result was something to be proud of for a rookie in his very first go.

Although Sargeant did not make it out of Q1, his qualifying time was exactly the same as Lando Norris at a 1m31.652s, but Norris did it first, so he was through to Q2 and Sargeant was out.

A rookie in a Williams matching McLaren’s best driver? Unimaginable, but true.

Sargeant is the real deal, and although he did the walk of shame down pit lane with the rest of those bumped out in Q1, he has nothing to be ashamed of.

“It’s a dream come true to go out and qualify in Formula 1.

“We had good pace today and the team deserved to have both cars in Q2. A slight mistake in Sector 1 cost me as I struggled to find my brake point with the change of wind at Turn 1.

“However, we’ve laid a good foundation for ourselves to build off going forward. I think we had the car in a great window this evening.

“In terms of balance it was right where I wanted it, I just needed to put it together slightly better. It’s going to be a pretty special feeling when the lights go out tomorrow.

“‘ll try to get off the line clean, have a good first lap and build from there.

Sargeant’s more experienced teammate, Alex Albon, did make it through to Q2 and thought he should have made Q3.

“We had some front wing damage in Qualifying, and we lost one of the flaps, so we didn’t complete a lap in Q2.

“It’s disappointing as, looking at the times in Q2, I really believe we could have made it to Q3.

“I’m a bit disappointed after being P9 in Q1 and I feel like we deserved more than where we qualified but I think if you look at where we were this time last year and where we are at this year, apart from Aston Martin, we’re the team that has made the biggest step forward.

“I’m really proud of everyone at the team and at the factory and things are going in the right direction. We really do come alive when the track becomes cold and I would say our race pace is stronger than our qualifying pace, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.”