Verstappen Comments On Sargeant's Situation: 'I Would Already Be On Plane Home'

Saturday, 23 March 2024 at 19:15

Max Verstappen responded to the controversial call of the Williams team principal to replace Logan Sargeant with Alex Albon for the third race of the 2024 season.

Alex Albon had a big crash during the first Free Practice session. While the Thai driver escaped unharmed, his gearbox was split in half, and the power unit with the car's chassis were also damaged.

The biggest problem was the chassis because it is something that is very challenging to repair, and Williams made the mistake of not bringing a spare chassis to the Albert Park Circuit.

Consequently, ahead of the FP3 session, it became clear that the Williams would be able to run only one car for the rest of the weekend.

The British team's principal, James Vowles, believed they had a high chance of competing for points this weekend. However, looking at past results, he knew not having Albon in the race significantly decreased their chances.

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As a result, he decided to make a controversial call. He put Logan Sargeant out of his car for the rest of the weekend (even though the American driver did nothing wrong) and gave his chassis to Albon.

Williams shared an official statement on their social media in which Sargeant was quoted as saying this might be the "hardest moment" in his career so far.

When Max Verstappen was asked to comment on the situation, he told Dutch media, according to express.co.uk:

"I understand it from the performance aspect, of course, but that doesn't change the fact that this obviously sucks for Logan."

It is challenging to imagine this would happen in any other team on the grid, and it must be tough to swallow for the American driver. Verstappen jokingly added:

"Of course, I'm not in that position, but then I would already be on the plane home. If that were to happen to me, I would completely [wreck my car] too, no one can drive. (laughs)"