Sargeant expects to be in pole fight despite P11 result in Practice

Logan Sargeant did not start the weekend in Budapest as well as he would have hoped for, ending Free Practice down in 11th position by the end of the 45 minutes of running. The Carlin driver struggled to make much of an impact during the opening session and looked to be some way off extracting the maximum from his car.

Sargeant admitted that he was disappointed to be so far off in Practice having struggled to home in on an ideal setup. But, come Qualifying, he expects to be back in the hunt and fighting in the top 10.

“We just didn’t have the car quite in the right window at the start of the session when the tyres were new and at their best. It was definitely tricky, as it always is around here, but I don’t think we’re too far away. A few tweaks on the setup and a few tweaks in my driving and we won’t be far away.”

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The temperatures in Budapest have been scorching so far, with the track temperature expected to remain high during Qualifying later on Friday evening. It wasn’t an excuse that Sargeant subscribed to though, saying that he just wasn’t able to thread together a lap good enough to put him at the sharp end.

“I don’t think the temperatures had anything to do with it, we just didn’t have the car in the perfect place, which I expect to this afternoon. I didn’t extract everything from the car this morning but I’m feeling more comfortable now and I should be able to later this afternoon in Qualifying.”

With the temperatures giving the teams and drivers somewhat of a headache in terms of forming a run plan, many are predicting just a single lap in the tyres while at peak performance.

Combine that with the potential for traffic jams throughout the Hungaroring’s 14-corner layout, and the chances of a Qualifying mix-up are high. Sargeant says he’s remaining calm and collected about the session, solely focused on a mistake-free afternoon in his Carlin.

“It’s going to be the same as always, extract everything from the peak of the tyre and make no mistakes. I feel that in general, I’ve done that well and feel ready for this afternoon.”