Sargeant wants track limits enforced in practice sessions after Q1 exit · RaceFans

In brief

Sargeant wants track limits enforced in practice after Q1 elimination

Williams driver Sargeant had his first lap time of Q1 deleted by the stewards after his left side wheels ran onto the painted divide between the race track and the pit lane entrance – something prohibited by the race director’s notes for this weekend.

Sargeant was one of four drivers to have times deleted for breaching the prohibited area in qualifying. his 1’29.721 would have seen him comfortably reach Q2.

“It was in the event notes to not cross the pit entry line, so it is on me,” Sargeant admitted. “But I feel like we need to do a better job of policing it through the free practices, to give us a reference. I pretty much did exactly what I’ve done all weekend and it gets deleted. So that’s a bit frustrating.”

After being eliminated from Q1 in 20th after failing to set a time within the 107% limit, Sargeant has been granted permission by the stewards to start today’s race.

First points “definitely on offer” for Piastri from eighth

McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri is eyeing his first ever points from eighth on the grid today after unexpectedly reaching Q3 for the first time.

After being eliminated in Q1 in Bahrain and retiring early, Piastri was a surprise participant in Q3 in qualifying for today’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and believes his McLaren can fight for points. “They’re definitely on offer,” Piastri said after qualifying.

“I think it’ll be tricky. This result probably wasn’t that expected, to be completely honest, but we’ll try our best. Our race pace we thought was actually better than our quali pace yesterday – we’ll see if that’s true tomorrow. Obviously, our straight-line speed is not exactly our strength, so we’ll see how that goes. But I’m confident to try and fight for the points.”

Double Red Bull gearbox change “planned” – Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says that the gearbox changes made to both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s cars earlier this weekend were a deliberate strategic decision made by the team.

Perez had his gearbox and gearbox casing replaced on Friday, before Red Bull carried out the same service to Verstappen’s car before yesterday’s final practice.

“That was actually scheduled, just to have two in the…