Logan Sargeant, a 23-year-old American driver, experienced a terrifying moment during the final practice session of the Dutch Grand Prix. While going the wet track at Zandvoort, Sargeant lost control of his car at the banked third corner, causing it to rebound off the barrier and send his right-rear tyre flying off the vehicle. The tyre bounced along the track as Sargeant managed to steer his burning Williams car back onto the track, albeit with extensive damage.
As flames engulfed the rear of the vehicle, Sargeant’s race engineer, Gaetan Jago, urgently warned him over the radio, “The car is on fire. Jump out. The car is on fire.” Fellow driver George Russell, who was the first to arrive at the scene, also frantically gestured to Sargeant to exit the blazing machine as smoke billowed from the rear of the car. Russell’s warning echoed over the radio, “He is on fire. He needs to jump out.”
Logan Sargeant (Image via Getty)
In a tense moment, Sargeant finally emerged from his wrecked vehicle, slamming over the barriers before being whisked away to the nearby medical centre for precautionary checks. Medical officials assured that Sargeant was fine, while the crash brought a 44-minute halt to the one-hour practice session as repairs were completed to the damaged barriers.
Sargeant’s car, on the other hand, suffered a fate worse than a simple crash, succumbing to a blaze in the process. The damage to the vehicle left Sargeant’s chances of competing in the qualifying round uncertain. The severity of the damage to his car makes him a major doubt to participate in qualifying, which is scheduled to commence at 3 pm local time (2 pm BST). Despite the shocking incident, Sargeant’s safety and well-being appear to be the most critical concerns at this stage.
