Logan Sargeant de Williams Racing FW46 barely escapes a collision with Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes AMG F1 W15 during the Formula 1 World Championship in Saudi Arabia. Hamilton’s team, Mercedes, was fined for obstructing Sargeant’s progress during practice.
Sargeant was on a fast lap during the FP2 session at dusk at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit when he found Hamilton moving slowly at Turn 10. To avoid a high-speed collision 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 heard statements from the driver of car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), the driver of car 2 (Logan Sargeant), team representatives, and examined data from the positioning/marshalling system, video footage, team radio, and video evidence from the car. 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 off the track to avoid a collision. If this had not been done, a serious and high-speed accident would have occurred.
«After reviewing the team radio, it became evident to us that car 44’s team did not alert their driver about car 2’s approach on a fast lap. This was a significant failure on the part of the team, 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 visibility for the driver. Therefore, we issued a warning to the driver and imposed a €15,000 fine on the team.»
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