05 December 2023 , 14:35
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Logan Sargeant cost his team more money than any other driver this season, while Max Verstappen finished bottom of the alternative Formula 1 table.
Sargeant endured a difficult debut season for Williams, picking up just the one point at the United States Grand Prix. He was forced to retire from four races this season, including the Dutch Grand Prix where he suffered two crashes that reportedly cost Williams $1.4million (£1.1m).
In total, Sargeant racked up $4.3m (£3.4m) worth of damage to his car, as per RacingNews365, as he topped the list. Following the American's crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, Williams chief James Vowles admitted the incidents would have an effect on their development plans for next season.
"For a number of races Logan has been on an old aerodynamic package in a number of ways – actually, a bit of a hybrid," Vowles admitted. "Simply, it's because parts are becoming more difficult to come by certainly as we get towards the end of the year.
"Under the cost cap, what you don't want to be doing is overproducing parts. We've had more attrition than expected, I think it's fair to say. We have enough parts to deal with this accident as it is today, but it will mean that we have to divert attention away from other items in order to produce more spare parts before we get to the end of the year."
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To make matters worse for Williams, Sargeant's teammate Alexander Albon also racked up costs of $2.7m (£2.1m), putting him sixth on the list. Verstappen, meanwhile, was in last place having amassed just $345,000 (£273,000) worth of damage.
The Dutchman, who won a third consecutive world title in dominant fashion this year, finished every single race after only suffering minor damage in incidents at the Azerbaijan, British and Las Vegas Grands Prix.
Max Verstappen caused just £273,000 worth of damage to his car this season (AP)However, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was third on the list with $3.2m (£2.5m) worth of damage. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finished second with $3.6m (£2.8m), having been involved in major incidents in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and George Russell join Verstappen in keeping their costs below $1m (£792,000). However, the drivers on the grid racked up a total of around $40m (£31.6m) worth of damages.
List in full: Logan Sargeant - £3.4m, Carlos Sainz - £2.8m, Sergio Perez - £2.5m, Esteban Ocon - £2.2m, Lance Stroll - £2.2m, Alex Albon - £2.1m, Kevin Magnussen - £2m, Pierre Gasly - £1.9m, Oscar Piastri - £1.7m, Charles Leclerc - £1.5m, Nico Hulkenberg - £1.2m, Nyck de Vries/Daniel Ricciardo - £1.2m, Lando Norris - £1.1m, Yuki Tsunoda - £994,000, Guanyu Zhou - £956,000, Lewis Hamilton - £697,000, Fernando Alonso - £657,000, Valtteri Bottas - £554,000, George Russell - £530,000, Max Verstappen - £273,000