Sargeant out of Baku sprint after shootout crash

BAKU, Azerbaijan — American driver Logan Sargeant will not take part in Saturday’s sprint race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to car damage sustained in the sprint shootout qualifying session earlier the same day.

Sargeant was classified 15th in Formula One’s new sprint shootout session but crashed heavily on the exit of Turn 15 at the end of Q1, sustaining significant damage to the right-hand side of his Williams car.

The 22-year-old misjudged his entry speed to the corner and appeared to be distracted by the two Ferraris that moved out of his way ahead of him.

“The Ferraris were in the middle of the road!” Sargeant said over team radio, even though one was on the inside of the apex kerb at Turn 15 and the other had pulled off the racing line on the exit of the corner to let him pass.

Williams faced a huge repair job to prepare the car in time for the 17-lap sprint race later the same day, and with two hours to go before the sprint’s start time the team officially withdrew Sargeant’s car from the sprint.

With only the top eight scoring points in the sprint race and the result no longer having an impact on the grid for Sunday’s grand prix, it seemed unlikely Sargeant would have had a shot at points had he raced.

The withdrawal will not affect the American’s participation in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday when more points are up for grabs and he is due to start 14th on the grid.

Sargeant’s absence on the grid for the sprint race means the five cars that qualified behind him will all move up a place, which will become two places as Esteban Ocon, who qualified 13th, will start both races from the pit lane due to a breach of parc ferme regulations.