Sargeant gains big confidence boost from first F2 win

Logan Sargeant says he has the confidence to chase “some big results” in the coming races after securing his first Formula 2 victory at the British Grand Prix.

The Floridian controlled Sunday’s feature race from pole position -- also his first at this level -- and then withstood late pressure from Theo Pourchaire to take a win that moves him up to third in the drivers’ championship. With Silverstone marking the halfway point in the F2 season, Sargeant says he’s sure he can deliver similar results in the second half of the year.

“I know I can put it at the front, that’s two feature race podiums in a row,” Sargeant told Speed City Broadcasting. "I know the pace is there, I know the car is there -- Carlin has done an excellent job all year. I have so much support from my family, Williams and Carlin -- they’re all so supportive of my season and career, and I’m just going to keep trying to improve as a driver and keep doing the best I can.

“Obviously it’s a bonus to be high up in the championship but we’re seven rounds out, there’s so much racing to do. However I am extremely confident. As I said the car’s been quick every single weekend and I’ve gotten the tracks I don’t know extremely well out of the way. I feel like now we can just really look forward and put in some big results.

“The mindset switches straight to Red Bull Ring -- we’re there in a few days. No time to rest, we’ve got to be on it there.”

However, reflecting on his Silverstone win, Sargeant says he was never letting his first victory get away once he knew he would be starting from pole position.

“I wanted this one so much coming into the weekend. I’ve put a lot of effort into this year, obviously improving round after round. I knew coming into Silverstone -- probably my favorite circuit on the calendar from previous results -- (that had a chance). Man, it feels good!

“You get the pole position but in this championship it’s still a massive question mark. Anything can happen --it’s a roller coaster. I just wanted to stay mentally strong, do everything I could right, hopefully that would be enough and it was.

“I knew he (Pourchaire) was coming, but I also know how hard it is in dirty air around here. So I knew if I just didn’t put a wheel wrong and prepped my exits, I didn’t think he was going to have much of a chance.

“I told myself there’s no one or nothing that is going to come between me and this win. I’ve never wanted a win as much as this one. I’ve learned lessons here in the past, and I applied those, and it just came together perfectly.”