Logan returns to racing with P16 in Zandvoort
Sarge soaked up late-race pressure from a two-pronged Dutch attack
25 Aug 2024
2 min read
Formula 1's summer break came to a 72-lap end in the Netherlands, where Logan Sargeant took a P16 finish in the 2024 Dutch GP.
It was a busy afternoon for Logan, who began the race from P18 on the grid after a troubled weekend.
A heavy FP3 crash prevented any Qualifying appearance, but Logan's mechanics worked wonders on his car to get it ready to race.
With others taking penalties, Logan began his first race for almost a month from the ninth row of the starting grid.
An overtake on Guanyu Zhou in the opening lap was a decent start, but Alex Albon in the sister Williams got past to keep Sarge in P18.
He'd keep his head down during the first stint, extending the gap to Zhou and fighting with the pit lane-starting Kevin Magnussen, who ran a different strategy.
As others pitted, Logan soldiered on until he swapped his Pirelli tires for a set of the white-walled Hards on Lap 25 to put him in the fight.
With the midfield battle just as tense and tight as before the summer break, Logan was up against Saubers, Alpines, RBs, and both Haas cars throughout.
As others pitted, some for a second time, Logan found Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen were his closest rivals for the race's second half.
Tsunoda, in particular, kept close and within DRS range as the pressure piled up, but Logan didn't let that affect his race.
After teammate Albon opted for a two-stop strategy and pitted behind Sarge's scrap, instructions to hold up other cars came down over the team radio.
Logan played his part perfectly, something James Vowles praised after the race, and allowed Albon to speed past Magnussen and Tsunoda.
Once the sister FW46 pulled alongside, there was no fight from Logan, who dutifully let Albon race forward as the RB and Haas continued pushing behind.
Even though there was no respite for Sarge, he crossed the line in front for a P16 classification.
Logan was quick to praise the team for their hard work after the chequered flag: "Firstly, a big thank you to everyone for getting the car turned around for today.
"It’s greatly appreciated from my side as I know how much work goes into it.
"Nonetheless, I lacked a little bit of pace today.
"We tried to make the one-stop work which was tricky with a lot of defending and blue flags to deal with, but it was always going to be tough from where we started."
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