23-year-old driver admits Bahrain Grand Prix was an ‘unfortunate disaster’

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Williams endured an ‘unfortunate disaster’ at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday, Logan Sargeant says.

Sargeant finished 20th and last in Sakhir and was the only driver in the field to be lapped twice.

The American was left cursing his luck after an issue caused him to skid off the track and come to a brief stop at turn four during the first stint.

He subsequently pitted for a steering wheel change, but wasn’t able to recover the ground he lost in a race that didn’t feature any safety cars.

Williams left the event without any points in the bag after Alex Albon, who struggled with overheating throughout the race, came home in 15th.

Logan Sargeant says bad luck squandered Williams potential in Bahrain

Speaking after the race, Sargeant told the official F1 channel that Williams had been unable to get to the bottom of the issue that caused his stoppage.

He was feeling confident about his chances of a good result after the early proceedings before he too countered cooling issues.

“It was just frustrating,” he said. “It happened yesterday in quali, happened again today. So obviously, [we] need to figure out the core cause for it, because it wasn’t fixed.

“[I] think [I’m] more just frustrated. [I] had a good first lap, a good opening stint, felt like it was coming to me. [I was] struggling with PU temp, so I couldn’t stay close to the cars ahead, so it was just a bit of an unfortunate disaster.”

Sargeant under pressure as he fights for Williams seat

Sargeant knows he simply must deliver this season after Williams handed him a lifeline at the end of a tricky rookie campaign.

The 23-year-old only scored one point across the season, while team-mate Albon bagged 27 to almost single-handedly lift the Grove outfit to seventh in the championship.

Only the pointless Nyck de Zries finished below Sargeant in the standings, and team principal James Vowles has warned he must be ‘the surprise of the season‘ to keep his drive.

He may find it difficult to score in the early rounds this year, with Williams further back in their development than they hoped to be at this stage.