Logan Sargeant was left ruing a mistake at Turn 13, which lost him a chance of securing his first Q2 appearance in Formula 1.
Sargeant, who has been gaining confidence throughout the weekend, endured a hair-raising start to qualifying when he spun his Williams at Turn 16, flat-spotting a set of tyres.
On his second run, Sargeant was in contention for Q2, but a mistake in Turn 13 cost him any chance of progressing, consigning him to 18th on the grid for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
“Just missed a bit of pace today,” said Sargeant to the media. “I was a few tenths off Alex in FP3, and even then, I was struggling to find the last little bit.
“I was on a pretty good lap at the end and just made a mistake into Turn 13, which lost me three-tenths.
“That would have sent us to Q2, but it is what it is. We just need to start putting together.”
Albon’s progress gives Sargeant hope
On the other side of the Williams garage, Sargeant’s teammate Alex Albon had an excellent session, showing good speed throughout before eventually qualifying eighth for the race.
Although overtaking comes at a premium at Albert Park, Williams have previously looked strong on circuits which favour straight line speed, with Albon setting several fastest sector two times during qualifying.
“We have a quick car,” said Sargeant. “We’re quick in the straight line, it’s a difficult track to overtake on, but we’ll try and make something happen.
