Sargeant looking forward to 'diving deep' into FW45 in Bahrain

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Williams rookie Logan Sargeant will kick off his round of pre-season testing on Thursday afternoon in Bahrain, and the young American is eager to dive in and assess the performance of the team's new F1 challenger.

After gearing up for the 2023 F1 season, teams get down to business this week at Sakhir where each outfit will put its contender through its paces.

And Sargeant, who begins in earnest this week his career as a Grand Prix driver, is raring to go.

"I’m super excited for testing in Bahrain," said the American.

"We already had a good feeling in the car at the rollout in Silverstone. I’m really looking forward to diving deeper into what the car is capable of and also getting more comfortable with it from my side."

Fortunately, Sargeant's baptism of fire will be helped by the fact that Bahrain is a track that he is well acquainted with.

"Bahrain is a track that I know well so that brings me confidence going into the test," he commented. "Hopefully that’ll put us in a good spot ahead of the first race of the season.

"We’re going to try and make everyone’s efforts and hard work over the winter pay off."

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On the other side of the Williams garage, Alex Albon underscored the need for Williams to get up to speed as quickly as possible given that teams only have three days of running at their disposal before heading into next week's opening race of 2023.

"We had our rollout at Silverstone last week - which was great to get those first laps in - and whilst the conditions at Silverstone are completely different, getting those laps under our belts is still important," said Albon.

"Now we’re here in Bahrain for proper testing, we’ll need to adjust to the different conditions, with 1.5 days each to get comfortable with the car.

"Ultimately, it’s not much, so we need to be proactive in getting the car in a decent place as quickly as possible, which I think we did a good job at last year.

"Hopefully we have a better base to build off this season, however it’s difficult to comment on at this stage."

Albon will kick off Williams' test on Thursday morning while Sargeant will take over in the afternoon.

Thereafter, each driver will enjoy a full day of running, with Sargeant driving on Friday and Albon on Saturday.

"Our primary focus will be on ensuring that the car, team and drivers are race-ready for the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix," commented Dave Robson, Williams' head of vehicle performance.

"We will also be collecting some fundamental data on the FW45 performance, which will aid the ongoing development programme.

"The team in Grove has worked tirelessly for many months and we are looking forward to getting the FW45 on track and continuing its journey towards the 2023 season."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.