During a scorching lap around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Logan Sargeant found himself in a heart-stopping moment when he had to swiftly maneuver to avoid a slow-moving Lewis Hamilton at Turn 10.
As Hamilton drifted towards the racing line, Sargeant had to swiftly veer to the right, skimming across the kerbs, deeming the near-collision as “dangerous” over the team radio.
Following the session, both Hamilton and Sargeant were summoned to the stewards’ office. The stewards issued a warning to Hamilton and imposed a fine of 15,000 euros on Mercedes for what they classified as a “serious failure” to inform their driver about approaching traffic.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), the driver of Car 2 (Logan Sargeant), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, team radio and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 44 impeded Car 2 at Turn 11,” stated the stewards’ verdict.
“As a result, Car 2 had to take evasive action by going off the track to avoid a collision. Had that not been done, there would have been a serious, high-speed crash.”
“Upon listening to the team radio, it became evident to us that the team of Car 44 failed to alert their driver about the approaching Car 2 on a fast lap.
“This constituted a significant lapse on the team’s part, especially considering the speeds on this circuit and the challenging nature of turn 11, situated at the end of a sequence of high-speed corners where driver visibility is compromised. Therefore, we issue a warning to the driver and impose a fine of €15,000 to the team.”
Reflecting on his performance after securing the eighth-fastest time, Hamilton expressed, “Difficult day; just lacking confidence in the rear of the car.”
“On the setup, we made significant changes session after session, but I’m still grappling with the fundamental issue of instability in the rear end, resulting in a few precarious moments out there.
“In these high-speed sections, absolute trust in the car is paramount, and unfortunately, I haven’t achieved that yet.”
When queried about his expectations for qualifying, especially considering his teammate George Russell’s strong performance, Hamilton responded, “I don’t know, we’ll have to analyze the data, but George seems much more content with his car.”
“We pursued different paths today, experimenting with various setups to pinpoint the ideal solution for the car. All I seek is a stable rear, and once we achieve that, I’ll be satisfied, so that’s the focus of my efforts.”
