by VALERIO BARRETTA
Sargeant and that time that young people miss
James Vowles he learned everything from Toto Wolff, and you can also see it in how he defends the team and its riders even when there seems to be little that is defensible. This is the case with Logan Sargeantwhich paid a very high price in its debut year: leaving aside the obvious difficulties at the beginning, it was reasonable to expect something more from rookie American, who brought just one point to the standings, suffering a sensational 22-0 in qualifying from teammate Alex Albon.
Vowles' words
Of course, a young person must have the opportunity and time to make mistakes, but also provide flashes that at least allow a glimpse of talent. Also in 2023, Piastri offered, for example, a much better performance, net of a superior car. But Vowles pointed out a Speedcafe as “in the old days – five or six years ago – we would give a driver about 30,000 kilometers of testing before we would consider putting him in the car on a race weekend“.
“Rookies need enough time and experience to be able to explore the limits of the car, because the transition from any other motorsport series to this one is enormous“, he concluded. “To give you an idea, F2 and even IndyCar would have a huge delay on the flying lap, so it's a different experience to what we're having here. And the drivers need time to make the most of the tyres, which are the predominant element and have a window of only four or five degrees. Then you have to concentrate on all this while going 300 kilometers per hour on a circuit. It's a different world and it takes a lot of getting used to“.
Trust in time
The American, despite the mixed results, convinced Williams to focus on him again in 2024. Sargeant, however, will have to prove that he is a valid driver in a world that wants everything immediately, unwilling to wait for rookies unless they bring sponsors or astronomical suitcases, and the case of Nyck de Vries is only the latest in an infinite series. If Sargeant were to suffer another beating on Saturday from Alex Albon and bring just one point to the table, farewell would be inevitable.
#Vowles #Sargeant #time #FormulaPassion
