Rookies entering a ‘different ballpark’ in modern F1

New players now enter a ‘different playing field’ in F1.

mat caulk

Williams team manager James Vowles said new entrants to Formula 1 are finding it harder than they were five years ago.

Logan Sargeant made his F1 debut with Williams in 2023 and will remain with the Grove team for a further two years in 2024. It comes after a difficult first championship in which he was easily defeated by experienced teammate Alex Albon.

Sargent was confirmed just weeks after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The choice to postpone the question of who will be Albon’s partner was made to give Sargeant time to prove his worth.

But on the other hand, it was a no-risk decision on behalf of Vowles as there were no other venues available for racing. He can either have an American or choose between alternate slots. “Back in the day, I don’t know how to explain it, five or six years ago, we did about 30,000 km of tests with the driver before we even thought about putting it on the car. It’s a racing car.” Vowles explained at the KTM Summer Grill.

“The advances in other motorsport series are huge, so you need enough [time and experience] to know the limits. “If you want to put the numbers, F2 and even IndyCar are about 14 seconds behind their lap times. So you are in a different area than what you see here.

“And drivers need time to get the most out of their tyres. “We have to focus for a moment on the tires because they are the dominant thing. You want to keep all four tires within a few degrees of their optimum temperature. The optimal temperature is only 4-5 degrees.

“That’s what you try to focus on when you’re trying to abuse a car on the road at 300 kilometers an hour. It’s a different world and it’s going to take some time.”

The challenges facing Sargent in 2023 were not made easy by a struggling FW45 that was excellent at times but shocking at others.

The 23-year-old opened up about himself midway through the season and admitted that his contribution in the role was limiting his performance. In one lap he was level with Albon, but struggled to keep up with the former Red Bull driver throughout the distance of the Grand Prix.

“He actually started the year off really strong,” Vowles said. “I think I told him the same thing and maybe that was part of his downfall. Perhaps he was too confident that he would succeed. “In Bahrain I qualified within a thousandth of a second of Lando (Norris) and in Saudi Arabia I set a faster lap time than Alex but had to retire due to track restrictions.

He added: “Then I got to see another side of the rookie.” “When you get something that destabilizes the foundation, you question everything. This is what happened in Saudi Arabia. The round was removed which wasn’t a problem. We had a lot of rounds to go, but that made us unstable. “Then you found out he had to give the car too much to get the same lap times.

“By the way, that’s normal for new players and it’s not an insult, but if you’re not sure where the line is, it’s easier to go a little bit over and then you get punished. . “It was the whole season until we got to the end.

“Then you must have seen another Logan during Suzuka.”

In Japan, Sargeant rose over the weekend to match Albon but failed to qualify. It was a relatively minor mistake in the final corner and was severely punished due to the old fashioned nature of the circuit. “But his performance was again equal to Alex’s because of the characteristics of his car,” Vowles recalled.

“From that point towards the end of the season, you’ll see a driver who doesn’t drive much and you’ll just watch what he does. “In Austin, he didn’t throw things off doing a Hail Mary for position, but he did a good job of keeping the track together and not hitting the limits of the track.

“Qualifying in Vegas we were 10th. Afterwards we could see that although we had speed, our car was so weak that we couldn’t use the points. “This is my summary of Logan, but it helps you understand why it deserves another chance,” he added.

“There will be some recovery in the winter, there always is, but it has matured a lot during the season.”