Logan Sargeant from Williams Racing FW46 narrowly avoids a collision with Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes AMG F1 W15 during the Formula 1 World Championship in Saudi Arabia. Hamilton’s team, Mercedes, has been fined for obstructing Sargeant’s progress during practice.
Sargeant was in the midst of a fast lap during the twilight FP2 session at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit when he encountered Hamilton moving slowly through Turn 10. To avoid a high-speed crash with the seven-time F1 champion, the Williams driver had to navigate the kerbs, describing the incident as “risky” over the radio.
After the session, both drivers were summoned by the stewards, resulting in Mercedes receiving a €15,000 fine for not notifying Hamilton about Sargeant’s approach.
“The Stewards listened to statements from Car 44’s driver (Lewis Hamilton), Car 2’s driver (Logan Sargeant), team representatives, and examined data from the positioning/marshalling system, video footage, team radio, and in-car video evidence. Based on this, they concluded that Car 44 obstructed Car 2 at Turn 11,” stated the stewards’ decision.
“As a result, Car 2 had to take evasive action by going off the track to avoid a collision. If this hadn’t been done, a severe, high-speed crash would have occurred.
“After reviewing the team radio, it was evident to us that the team of Car 44 failed to alert their driver about the approaching Car 2 on a fast lap. This was a significant failure on the team’s part, especially considering the speeds on this circuit and the challenging nature of Turn 11, which is located at the end of a series of high-speed corners with limited driver visibility. Therefore, we issue a warning to the driver and impose a €15,000 fine on the team.”