Logan: “I’m ahead of where I expected to be”

It’s still very early days, but after three races into my first Formula 1 season, I think there have been a lot of positives - I’d say more positives than negatives so far.

Starting with Bahrain, the entire weekend was super enjoyable. Considering it was my first F1 race I didn’t really feel the pressure.

I just went out to do my best and really take in the moment and we were fortunate enough to have a really quick car that was capable of scoring points. That made the weekend that much more enjoyable, and I don’t necessarily feel like it could have gone a whole lot better.

Coming to the grid for the first time, your heart is obviously beating at a million miles an hour, and when the lights are on, that’s when you feel it the most. But once the lights went out and I dropped the clutch, it all just became natural from that point.

I had a great first lap and it was a lot of fun to race the other 19 drivers. I had Alex right in front of me and I just followed him and we went through the field together, both gaining a few positions - it was cool to have the two Williams Racing cars charging through.

That was genuinely a pretty cool moment. Overall, it was a really enjoyable weekend that I’ll never forget.

While Jeddah was challenging and it did end up being a disappointment, realistically I think it was almost more positive than Bahrain because, had Qualifying gone the way it could have, our pace was really strong and better than what we were capable of doing in Round 1. The potential was definitely there.

Not doing what I needed to do in Qualifying just set us on the back foot for the race and then we had to take a risk to try to make something happen.

We tried a different strategy which didn’t quite fall our way. I think if the safety car had come five laps later, it would have been prime time but that’s the way it goes.

I feel like it ultimately could have been a really, really good weekend that just sort of slipped out of our hands but, in general, I’d say the pace itself was even better than in Bahrain - we just didn’t maximise it.

Australia and Albert Park are a country and track that I’ve always wanted to visit, and it definitely lived up to my expectations.

The track in general was tricky and I’m glad to have got one under my belt there, so I’ll know what’s coming at me next time.

Going into Melbourne, it was always going to be a difficult weekend having never been there. It’s a track where having some knowledge there makes a huge difference and so I had to build into the weekend a little slower than I would have liked.

Then, missing FP2 due to an electrical issue, which was a crucial bit of track time to set up your Saturday, didn’t help.

I was having to stretch a little bit further than I needed to in the first two rounds to try to get a lap out of it and, again, that just comes down to not knowing the track and missing a session.

In Quali, I was on a lap that was good enough for Q2, but I felt like I had to push a little bit over what I would have liked to try and get out of Q1. My lap was comfortably going to progress me to Q2 and I made a small mistake in the second to last corner which cost me.

There were so many positives to come from the first two races and really the first moment that was rocky and a bit tough was when I was struggling for a bit of pace in Australia. But that’s to be expected from my first time there. I knew it was going to be a challenging one.

I’ve definitely taken key learnings and it was beneficial to get to Melbourne for the first time, learn the track, and experience the whole weekend, despite a disappointing race.

We understandably took a gamble on the strategy after the red flag, but it just didn’t work on this occasion.

The atmosphere was amazing as I had always expected it to be. Doing the Melbourne walk for the first time was definitely something and it was a really enjoyable weekend - maybe not results wise but as an overall experience.

After the first three races, I’m ahead of where I expected to be. Now is a good time to reset, get back on the sim and have a good base to go forward again from here.

There are some big differences between F2 and F1. I think the biggest thing is when you come into an F1 weekend is you’re being pulled in multiple directions, whereas in F2 it’s fully track-focused.

You can go through what you want to do on the driving side and that’s all you really have on a Thursday, whereas F1 is filled with media and other activities which means a lot more of the prep needs to be done before you get to the track, to allow for that time on Thursday.

Physically, it’s definitely a lot more challenging. I feel like my body is still building up to it, but it’s getting closer and closer each race and I hope within a few more rounds, I’m to the point where I’m at my best.

Trying to get the seat right makes a big difference; to have the positioning perfect is never easy to do. Generally, I’m working on the fatigue, the neck and the shoulders, and continuing to build my cardiovascular endurance so I don’t feel gassed by the end of the race.

Recently, I spent a really enjoyable few days in New York. I was able to see the city for the first time and I really enjoyed it.

It was nice to see some friends there too, to my brother who came to visit while I was there, and just to be able to run around New York City for the first time was really, really cool.

We did a lot of exciting stuff and you’ll see some of the stuff we did there that we haven’t yet shown on social media in the near future.

Ringing the Closing Bell at NASDAQ and then seeing my face on the billboard in Times Square was definitely one of the coolest experiences of the week.

I wasn’t expecting it. I don’t think I fully realised what we were doing until the day itself and I’ve watched them ring the bell so many times before, so it was cool to do it for myself.

I’ve still got a little bit of time before we head to Baku. There’s not much time to rest anymore though!

I’ll have a few days on the simulator to get ready for Baku and Miami, which is another track that I’ve never been to, so I need to spend a bit of extra time on that building up to it.

I’m staying active in the gym to keep my fitness ticking over and stay in good shape, and other than that, I’ve got a few media commitments for some sponsor days, and my parents are over, so it’s nice to try to spend a bit of time with them.

I finished on the podium in second in Baku last year in F2 and I really enjoyed my first time at the track so that will bring back some fond memories.

It’s going to be a challenge going into that weekend considering it’s a Sprint. With only an hour of Free Practice before Qualifying, that changes things a little bit.

I’m going to have to do my best to get on it a bit quicker, take a little more risk a bit sooner, but I feel like we’ve done good work on the sim, I feel comfortable, we have the car in a pretty good place and it’s going to be an exciting weekend as it always is in Baku. Hopefully, we can keep our nose clean and have a good one.

In terms of whether the track will suit our car, I think yes and no.

There are a lot of long straights which always help us. But at the same time, there are a lot of very slow sections on the track too.

Being optimistic, I hope we have a good chance to get out of Q1 and who knows where we can go from there?

Then it won’t be long until we head to Miami.

I’m feeling good, excited and looking forward to driving in front of the home crowd for the first time and experiencing the home atmosphere. It’s going to be an exciting weekend.

It’s going to be a good test for me for sure - it will be very physically challenging, and it’s going to be a really busy weekend as well - but I’m really looking forward to getting home and completing the full loop.

That’s where I started racing in go-karts and to return there in Formula 1 is going to be a cool moment.

It might be difficult to get up to speed as quickly as I would like because I’ve never driven at the track, so I’m going to have to use each and every session to keep building up again and hopefully by the time Quali comes around, we’ll be on it and we should have a decent car for Miami.

I’ve also got a pretty cool helmet coming so I’m looking forward to that. You’ll have to wait and see but I can tell you that it’s very ‘Miami’…