Sargeant defends rookie season: ‘Hamilton, Alonso got endless days of testing'

Sargeant is the only full-time driver in F1 2023 yet to score a point.

Consequently, his future with Williams is still unclear, with the team yet to confirm who will race alongside Alex Albon in 2024.

Team boss James Vowles has voiced his public support of the American even though his performances continue to disappoint.

Sargeant only had one-and-a-half days of testing ahead of the 2023 season - considerably less than some of his peers.

Speaking in Qatar, Sargeant was quick to point out that the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso had “endless days of testing” ahead of their respective F1 careers - something that’s not the case now.

"Experience always helps, but I have people to talk to to just try and understand how to approach things and why these little mistakes are happening and how to get rid of them," Sargeant said.

"It is a constant work-in-progress, and I don't think anyone is perfect in that sense - it is just about building off the mistakes, and it might sound silly, but using them to your advantage to try and learn from it.

"Ideally, you'd have more testing, as that is the best way to prepare - I mean back in the day when Lewis [Hamilton] and Fernando [Alonso] joined, everyone back then got endless days of testing, and in the current car too which is very different to what we experience now. 

"Now, it is always a previous generation and that makes a difference, but even if it is the previous generation [of car used in testing], just having more days [overall] makes a difference.”

Amid his poor form, Sargeant revealed that he doesn’t look at social media, describing it as “nonsense”. 

"Everyone who knows what is going on behind the scenes, who knows me as a person wants me to succeed. I have support from the team, so I don't really care what anyone else thinks," he added. 

"I don't look at [social media] to be honest. 

"I have conversations with people who want me to keep improving, people who want me to be a better driver and person so I don't even pay attention to any of that nonsense."