Sargeant aiming for top five in Feature Race as he closes on P2 in the Championship

Logan Sargeant might have been disappointed to not finish better than fourth in Saturday’s Sprint Race at Monza, but the Carlin driver took more valuable points in his efforts to secure second in the Drivers’ Championship.

The American admitted that the Sprint had been tough, with many drivers stuck behind one another separated by just a few tenths of a second each lap.

While Sargeant said he had gone into the race expecting overtaking to be difficult, he said afterwards that he’d found some positives to carry into tomorrow’s Feature event and would be targeting the top five once more.

“I know what improvements we can make. I already stepped it up and took it a step up late on in the race. That’s a good direction to head in. Two or three-tenths to find but I’m sure we’ll get there before too long.

“Tomorrow I’ll have to be realistic, keep my nose clean and look to have a good start. I think a top five finish would be good considering where I’m starting. It hasn’t been the smoothest of weekends for us but a top five would definitely be nice.”

After a difficult start, Sargeant managed to rebound and recapture some momentum following the Safety Car. Having lost out to Ayumu Iwasa on the opening lap, Sargeant got back past after the DAMS driver’s stout defence of third came to an end on Lap 12.

From that point on, he followed in the slipstream of Jehan Daruvala but couldn’t get close enough to make a pass on the PREMA Racing man for the final podium position. Sargeant says that his poor start was the catalyst for a difficult afternoon.

“It wasn’t the best of starts again, falling down to P5 exiting Turn 1 and from there on it was just looking forwards and trying to attack. Then we had a really good restart after the Safety Car, picked up one spot there and had a good battle with Ayumu, and then sort of sat in fourth for the rest of the race and hung onto it.

“I knew the DRS train was a possibility. I think if you’re extremely quick, you can still make overtakes happen. That’s what we need to aim for tomorrow. There’s a little bit of pace to find but it seems ok.”

While his Qualifying leaves him with a lot to do from ninth on the grid on Sunday, Sargeant says he has enjoyed the challenges Monza has put to him and the rest of the F2 grid.

Although his push for the podium didn’t go in his favour, the American says there are lessons he can take into the final race of the weekend that could make all the difference when strategy comes in to play.

“It’s one of those old-school tracks on the calendar. You have to use every inch of track it’s absolutely vital. Just being confident, I think that will make the difference. I’ve made that step today in the Sprint Race and I just want to continue on that trajectory.”