Williams rookie Logan Sargeant gave it his all and then some in Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, only for his efforts to land him in Formula 1’s medical center at Lusail at the end of the day.
The young American battled the grueling hot and humid conditions throughout the race, but as he felt his physical condition deteriorate, Sargeant wisely opted to throw in the towel on lap 40 of 57.
The 22-year-old was checked and eventually cleared by F1’s medical staff after being diagnosed with a heatstroke.
"Following Logan's retirement from the Grand Prix, he has been assessed and cleared by the medical team on-site after suffering from intense dehydration during the race weakened by having flu-like symptoms earlier in the week," the Williams team said in a statement.
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Williams said that Alex Albon who finished 13th also underwent a check-up at the medical center after struggling to get out of his car at the end of the race in parc fermé.
"Alex was taken to the medical centre to be treated for acute heat exposure. He has now been assessed and cleared by the medical team,” the team added.
Amid ambient temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius and humidity that was over 75%, conditions were among the toughest ever encountered on race day by F1’s current generation of drivers.
Furthermore, the FIA’s decision to restrict tyre life to 18 laps on the grounds of safety, which led to a three-stop race, forced drivers to go all-out in the race from start to finish, with runner-up Oscar Piastri describing his race as "57 qualifying laps".
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll also finished the race completely exhausted and nearly fainted as he extracted himself from his car and sought the assistance of medical personnel nearby.
"It was absolutely brutal, by far the most physical race I've ever experienced," said Mercedes’ George Russell who managed to finish fourth.
"I felt close to sort of fainting in that race, I've never experienced anything like it before. I asked my engineer to give me encouragement just to try and take my mind away from it.
"I do a lot of heat training in the sauna, so you push your body to the limit, and sometimes you just need to get out of that sauna. That's sort of how I felt from about lap 20.
"I opened my visor for the whole race, and it was hot air, but it was better than no air."
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