Logan Sargeant earns first F1 point in bizarre circumstances

Logan Sargeant has earned his first Formula 1 point following the shock disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc from the United States Grand Prix.

Mercedes driver Hamilton and Ferrari’s Leclerc, who finished second and sixth at the Circuit of the Americas, were being investigated by the stewards following a plank wear inspection in Austin.

More than three hours after the race finished, the stewards announced that the pair had been disqualified – and thus everybody else moved up the order.

Williams driver Sargeant finished the race 12^th but having moved up to 10^th receives his first point of the season in bizarre circumstances at his home race.

Sargeant thus becomes the first American driver to score a point in F1 in 30 years.

“It’s amazing to score my first point in F1 on home turf after the challenging weekend I’ve had,” he said.

“I’m so proud of this team and myself for the hard work and progress we’ve been making this season.”

The FIA note reveals that the cars of Verstappen and Lando Norris (who now moves up to second from third in the final classification) were also inspected, but passed the checks.

The final stewards report said: “During the hearing, the team acknowledged that the measurement performed by the FIA Technical Team was correct and stated that the high wear on the skid pads was probably a result of the unique combination of the bumpy track and the Sprint race schedule that minimized the time to set up and check the car before the race.

“The Stewards note that the onus is on the competitor to ensure that the car is in compliance with the regulations at all times during an event.

“In this particular case, the rear skid in the area defined in the Technical Delegate’s report was outside of the thresholds outlined in Article 3.5.9 e) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations, which includes a tolerance for wear.

“Therefore, the standard penalty for a breach of the Technical Regulations is imposed.”