(Motorsports news) As Alex Albon’s teammate this year, former F2 frontrunner Sargeant struggled to match his more seasoned teammate and made his fair share of rookie mistakes. However, the American has improved in recent races, most notably with his best finish to date in 13th place in Austria and just outside the points in Silverstone. However, the end effect is that he is still the only full-time driver who has not yet scored any points.
Sargeant gave the following summary of his Belgian season: “Ups and downs, I’m not where I want to be. “I feel like I’ve gotten closer over the last several rounds. The most crucial thing is that I believe I’ve made some really good progress recently. “I believe I need to tidy up a few things. Going into the second half of the season, I believe that collectively as a team, we can improve some aspects, and that is what we need to concentrate on.
The Williams FW43 hasn’t been the simplest vehicle to operate and hasn’t had as much downforce as the competition, so Sargeant has had to take his time getting used to it. When pressed to elaborate on his changes to his driving technique, the Florida native remarked, “It’s actually very, very small things but small things that make a big difference.” “There were times over the year when I was simply holding the brake too long into the turns and excessively reducing the minimum speed. I’m in control of that now.
“Just inputs in sharp turns at high speeds that cause instability, things like that. Numerous things exist. There were only a few very minor driving habits that needed to be changed.I’m just taking baby steps in a variety of different directions in order to get all possible from the vehicle, whether it be in quali sim or race trim, just the way the car needs to be driven.
Sargeant believes he is not putting too much pressure on himself to try and emulate Albon, who has had an exceptionally great season thus far, despite the fact that fellow rookie Nyck de Vries has already passed on after being replaced at AlphaTauri by Daniel Ricciardo. Sargeant has so far only gotten public support from team principal James Vowles, who wasn’t then in charge when academy member Sargeant was given the drive.
However, when he wasn’t able to squeeze every last bit of performance from his equipment, the 23-year-old has admitted to getting irritated with himself. “I wouldn’t say I’ve put an insane amount of pressure on myself,” he said. “I think having so many things to do and not having much time to sort of refresh has been psychologically taxing. It’s not very difficult; it’s just sort of psychologically taxing.
“I obviously have big expectations for myself. Because I expect the best from myself, I want to drive well. I’ve been disappointed with myself a lot this year when I haven’t accomplished everything I could have. “And occasionally I feel like I’ve a couple times simply missed the mark on it. And it’s about polishing that, putting it better together, and carrying it out better. That, in my opinion, is the next move. Because it seems like I now have everything to do.
When asked what he would consider a successful first year, Sargeant responded, “I don’t really have a specific aim. Back to the sensation that I extracted everything during the weekend. It basically comes down to me feeling like I’ve done everything I could, gotten everything out of it, and start putting things together better since we don’t always have a car to get points.
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