Report: Logan makes his Formula One debut

Logan Sargeant, our Williams Driver Academy F2 star, tasted a Formula One session for the very first time in front of a cheering home crowd in Austin. Logan took over Nicholas Latifi’s FW44 in FP1 to record well over 100km of problem-free running.

Alex Albon took to the COTA track in both sessions in the Texas heat. The clear skies made the scheduled FP2 tyre test possible after its cancellation in Japan.

Pirelli’s prescribed 26 laps apiece from Alex and Nicky will give valuable insight for the 2023 compounds.

Our American rookie Logan kept a cool head in FP1, when an early red flag curtailed his first hot lap in F1 machinery.

Undeterred, the 21-year-old Floridian headed straight back out when the session resumed, kept the car on the black stuff, and set a best time within just two seconds of Alex.

With nearly 100 laps on the board between Logan, Alex and Nicky, the team have plenty of data to pour over before tomorrow’s Qualifying.

As you might expect, Logan was beaming after an FP1 session full of education, saying: “The main goal coming into today was to learn as much as possible and I feel like I did pick up on a lot.”

With Logan being more used to F2 machinery, he immediately noticed the change in car behaviour: “It was very different to what I honestly expected but in a good way. The way that the car reacts compared to what I’m used to in Formula 2 is massively different.

“Super reactive in the high-speed and so good on the brakes. A lot of potential to still pick up on and improve on, but I think it was a good start and happy with how it went.

“A massive thank you to Williams and Dorilton Motor Sports for their support and the opportunity today.”

Albono was the only Williams driver to take on both of Friday’s sessions, and he was pleased with how the day went: “The one representative session we had today went surprisingly okay being 13th on the time sheet.

“There’s definitely some more time to be found. It’s tricky with it being windy up here and the winds only going to get worse during the weekend which doesn’t tend to suit our car.

Alex finished on an optimistic note, saying: “We’ll do our homework tonight to see what we can change from today into tomorrow to be more productive.”

A quieter than usual Friday for Nicky had him only take part in the extended FP2.

However, Pirelli stipulated the amount of running for each driver on the 2023 prototype tyres, meaning our Canadian could only learn so much.

“Probably the strangest Friday I’ve had as a Formula 1 driver. It was my first time missing FP1 and then the Pirelli tyre test in FP2.

“I took today as a chance to get into the rhythm of the track. It’s going to feel very different tomorrow when I’m back on this year’s tyres

Despite the limited running, Nicky is looking forward to Saturday: “We’ll be looking to start off strong in FP3 and maximise every lap.”

Our Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson reflected on an unconventional Friday for the team in Austin: “It has been a busy day with Logan making his FP1 debut this afternoon and the race drivers completing a tyre test programme for Pirelli during the extended the FP2 session this evening.

Dave was impressed by our Driver Academy member’s debut, saying: “Logan did a good job today and was able to build on the running he did in Abu Dhabi last year and on the simulator sessions that he has done since.

“He didn’t make any mistakes today, drove well and had some good feedback for the engineers.”

The Pirelli tyre test changed the complexion of Friday’s running, but Dave explained that there weren’t any problems from Williams’ side: “We completed the tyre testing without any issues but as we were doing the testing blind and as we weren’t permitted to change the setup during the session, there was little relevance to the rest of this weekend.

“However, it allowed Nicholas to get some laps done having missed FP1.

“We have a lot of work to do tomorrow to get the cars ready for qualifying and to some extent tomorrow will be a bit like a Friday of a sprint event.

“The weather looks like it will stay hot and windy for the rest of the weekend so part of our task tomorrow will be to understand how best to manage the tyres in these tricky conditions.