Why Sargeant was merely collateral in F1's fierce fight for sixth

OPINION: Logan Sargeant’s benching by Williams drew controversy but in the cutthroat Formula 1 midfield battle, it was a call the team had to make once it was down to one car for the Australian Grand Prix. The decision also illustrated the warfare each team is braced for in the fight for the best-of-the-rest positions

On balance, Williams' decision to bump Logan Sargeant out of his car for the rest of the Australia Formula 1 weekend after FP2, favouring Alex Albon despite his FP1 crash, was probably the right call - at least, from a calculated, numbers-driven point of view. It didn't quite pay off, but backing the driver who has been overwhelmingly stronger over their season-and-a-bit together gave the team a chance at a circuit that Albon has been historically good at.

From a man management perspective, it was a disaster. Maybe Sargeant will thrive on that perception of adversity, but Williams will certainly need to pay the American back handsomely in order to thank him for his selflessness.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake studied engineering at university, as his original ambition was to design racing cars. He was bad at that, and thus decided to write about them instead with an equally limited skillset. The above article is a demonstration of that. In his spare time, Jake enjoys people, places, and things.