'People Are Going To Be A Bit Annoyed': Sargeant's Prediction For Las Vegas Race Starting From P6

Sunday, 19 November 2023 at 02:00

Williams drivers surprised all F1 fans with their astonishing qualifying performance at Las Vegas Strip Circuit, finishing in P6 and P7.

Williams team principal James Vowles set expectations low ahead of the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix when he said his team focuses primarily on the next season and not the results in the last two races.

However, Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant exceeded everybody's expectations during the qualifying session on early Saturday morning when they put in faster times than F1 drivers like Lewis Hamilton or Sergio Perez.

Moreover, both Williams drivers will move up one position on the starting grid after Sainz's 10-position grid penalty gets applied. Sargeant told Formula1.com:

"I feel like we’ve had that potential for a while, but finally, I was able to get it all together over three qualifying sessions, which is nice."

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The 22-year-old achieved his career's best F1 qualifying result in Las Vegas. His P6 will be the highest starting spot on the grid for an American driver since Eddie Cheever in 1987. He added:

"It was tight there at the end, so I’m glad I was a few hundredths quicker than P10. It’s a great day for the team and I think we have a good race car as well."

Williams along with Ferrari has one of the cars that are suited to low downforce circuits like Monza or Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Sargeant expects Williams' high straight-line speed to be a competitive advantage.

"I think people are going to be a bit annoyed with our straight-line speed tomorrow! We’ll try to attack but we have a good way of defending as well."

Williams went into this weekend with a seven-point lead over their closest competitor Alphatauri and will have a chance to score big points and consequently extend the gap in the Constructors' Championship during the race on Saturday night.