Logan Sargeant, a driver for Williams Racing, received a penalty during the Chinese Grand Prix due to an illegal overtake. The team principal, James Vowles, acknowledged the need for enhanced tools to avoid similar incidents in the future. Sargeant took his moment to overtake Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas, who had just exited the pits during a safety car period. However, it was later discovered that Hulkenberg’s car was ahead of Sargeant’s car on the Safety Car’s second line. As a result, Sargeant received a 10-second penalty and two points on his license, finishing in 17th place. Williams failed to instruct Sargeant to give back the position earlier due to lack of clear footage to determine who was ahead. Vowles expressed that the penalty was harsh, considering the minimal time difference, and emphasized the difficulty for drivers to judge their position accurately. He took responsibility for the team’s mistake and highlighted the need for the development of more advanced and automated tools to improve visibility in such situations. Several camera replays were necessary for Williams to identify the discrepancy, as onboard footage did not provide a clear indication of who was ahead.
He stated: “We need to enhance our system and procedures to ensure we detect this more quickly, because it is possible to rectify this.
“Logan would have had to slow down during that initial incident, a few seconds later, allow the car to pass again, and that would have corrected that position.
“It’s a matter of fine margins, but that’s what Formula 1 is all about.”
Vowles emphasized that the team based in Grove had to accept the decision of the stewards because the regulations state that the verdict cannot be appealed after the race.
“The way penalties work is that when it happens during the race like that, there’s nothing you can do. You can’t appeal,” he revealed.
“Once the penalty is given, it’s effectively over, it’s determined by the FIA. We were behind at the finish line. Those are the facts.”
Meanwhile, Sargeant raised doubts about the logic behind the FIA not instructing him to give back the position to Hulkenberg under the Safety Car, in order to avoid spoiling his race.
“There’s also an elevation there, which I think makes it difficult to see when the cars are separated by a significant distance,” Sargeant recalled.
“From my side, I believed I was far ahead. I didn’t think I was even close, so for me, there was no discussion.
“So, it was strange to hear about it at the end of the race. I don’t know if there’s any way for the FIA to provide us with some feedback.
“We were under the Safety Car for a long time, I don’t know why they didn’t tell me to give back the position. If they had told me, I would have done it, but based on what I knew, I believed I was far ahead.”
