On Friday at Red Bull Ring Williams driver Logan Sargeant did something he had never done before in his Formula 1 career.
Finish ahead of teammate Alexander Albon in qualifying.
While Albon struggled with the balance of his FW46 during both the first practice session and Friday’s F1 Sprint Qualifying, finding himself eliminated in SQ1, Sargeant put together a strong first segment of qualifying, advancing into SQ2.
While the American driver saw his time deleted in SQ2 for exceeding track limits and will start today’s F1 Sprint Race in P15, he hailed the effort on Friday as a “good step forward” following a difficult Spanish Grand Prix.
“SQ1 was a good build-up, however in SQ2, I didn’t quite get Turn 1 and 3 right, attempting to make it up in the second half of the lap,” described Sargeant in the team’s post-session report. “I managed this, but then clipped the gravel in Turn 6 and that was unfortunately out. I’m still happy with my session and think it’s a good place to be starting tomorrow. The conditions are changing from session to session.
“We are being proactive with set-up and countering the differences and I feel like we did a good job and turned things around from FP1 to Sprint Qualifying, so we’ll just keep trying to do a bit more of the same. It’s been a good step forward from Barcelona.”
Williams Sporting Director Sven Smeets praised the effort from the team’s second-year driver, noting Sargeant is in a “good position” to try and notch a result today.
“Logan did a good job and got into SQ2 with a clean and decent last push lap. In SQ2, we knew he had to give it his all to gain some places on the grid but unfortunately couldn’t get it all lined up and his lap was deleted,” described Smeets. “Nevertheless, he will be in a good position tomorrow to fight and look out for opportunities.”
Sargeant has just one point over his year-plus in F1, which came at last season’s United States Grand Prix when he was promoted to P10 following post-race disqualifications handed down to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. But can the young driver follow up a good Friday, with an even better Saturday?
Friday was another positive session, with more evidence of progress, for Alpine.
Amidst the picturesque backdrop provided by the Styrian mountains, 20 Formula 1 cars roared to life on Friday at Red Bull Ring, as qualifying for tomorrow’s F1 Sprint Race was on the schedule. Once again Alpine saw both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon advance into the third and final segment of qualifying, as both drivers moved out of SQ2 and into SQ3.
While thoughts of an even bigger surprise were quashed there, as Ocon qualified eighth and Gasly ninth, the result was hailed by the team as even more evidence that they are making progress this F1 season.
“I’m happy to have reached SQ3 today and starting in eighth place for tomorrow,” said Ocon in the team’s post-session media report. “Again, we reached the top ten in Qualifying as a team, which is another good performance. SQ3 was far from straightforward as we were at the back of the queue.
“We probably got a little fortunate with Charles [Leclerc] missing the flag at the end and gained a position as a result,” added Ocon. “Even so, the positive is we performed well and we are in a good position in the Sprint Race. We still have work to do and things to understand but it’s pleasing to be heading in a good direction.”
Leclerc’s SF-24 stopped on pit lane with just minutes remaining in SQ3 and while the Ferrari driver was able to get it started and onto the track, he could not post a time during SQ3 and will start the F1 Sprint Race in P10.
On the other side of the garage, Gasly pointed to the improved pace from the A524 as a “good sign” for tomorrow.
“It was a good Sprint Qualifying for the team overall today with both cars reaching SQ3,” described Gasly, who earlier this week announced a new “multi-year” deal with Alpine. “We managed SQ1 and SQ2 well, showed good pace and we progressed through both sessions. We certainly did not [maximize] SQ3. It was a messy one and I did not get a proper push lap. These are things we will review as we always aim to [maximize] all sessions and get the most from it.
“Even so, we had good pace again today – that is pleasing – and again we are inside the top ten. Those cars ahead of us are quick and only the top eight score in the Sprint Race tomorrow. It will not be easy to pick up points but we will try our best and see what we can achieve.”
Thanks to their recent form — Alpine has picked up six points over the last two race weekends — the team has climbed to seventh in the Constructors’ Championship. Coming into the Austrian Grand Prix one of the major storylines was whether Alpine could keep that recent run of form going.
INDIANAPOLIS — It may still be very early in their respective journeys, but Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will be tied to one another no matter what happens over the rest of their careers.
Even before simultaneously entering the WNBA as part of one of the most heralded rookie classes ever, Clark and Reese — and especially the competitive college clashes between their Iowa Hawkeyes and LSU Tigers, respectively — played a huge role in bringing the women’s game to a national audience.
Sunday offered the latest chapter in their rapidly growing rivalry. For the second time in as many meetings against the Chicago Sky, Clark was hit with a hard foul. This time, it was Reese who caught Clark in the head on a block attempt, a play that was eventually deemed a Flagrant-1 foul.
While it likely won’t create the national firestorm the last flagrant foul against Clark in a game against the Sky did, it was a watershed moment between the two in another game that came down to the wire, a recurring theme in matchups between the pair.
Clark had arguably her best game in the WNBA, flirting with a triple-double while finishing with 23 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds, as well as a couple of late clutch plays — including an assist to NaLyssa Smith and a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds — that helped seal a fifth win of the season for the Fever (5-10) and fourth in the last six games.
Reese left her mark as well, scoring 11 points to go with 13 rebounds (5 of them were offensive), and 5 assists.
After the game, though, there was only one topic to discuss. After cursory first questions to open their pressers, the second question for both Clark and Reese postgame was about the flagrant foul.
“What’s going through my mind is I need to make these two free throws,” Clark said when asked about Reese’s flagrant foul. “That’s all I’m thinking about. It’s just part of basketball. It is what it is. She’s trying to make a play on the ball and get the block but, yeah, it happens.”
Reese, meanwhile, was far shorter with her response, calling the foul a “basketball play” and stating that she was going for the ball. Neither wanted to make a big deal about it, but that won’t stop the take train from going down the tracks — and potentially derailing women’s basketball discourse for a few days once again.
Clark and Reese are no strangers to being in this spotlight, nor is it new for them to do it together. Sunday was the eighth time the pair have faced off, including in college. Reese won the first four meetings, culminating in the national title game in 2023 in which the first viral moment between the two came when Reese taunted Clark in the waning seconds of the game.
Clark, though, has won the three most recent meetings. That includes the Elite Eight contest earlier this year and the two WNBA meetings between the pair so far.
While their duels in the Big Ten when Reese was at Maryland in her freshman and sophomore seasons before transferring to LSU didn’t capture the national audience, their tournament showdowns certainly did. The pair helped set the record for the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time in 2023 at 9.9 million viewers.
This spring in a rematch with a Final Four berth on the line, they obliterated that record, with 12 million fans tuning into the game. In their first WNBA meeting this season, 1.5 million fans tuned in, the fourth-largest audience to watch a WNBA game in the last two decades at the time.
After years of commanding enormous audiences on the collegiate level, Clark and Reese are now bringing a whole new set of eyes to the professional ranks.
“They love to watch us,” Reese said of her and Clark before Sunday’s meeting. “I think we’ve done a great job bringing a lot of fans to the league from college. I think we both have done that from our respective schools and [having] our championship runs and going to the Final Four. I think we did a great job bringing fans from college to the league and…we’ll continue to help [the league] grow.”
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Given the events and controversy that took place in the first meeting between the Fever and Sky in their first meeting, the TV audience for Sunday’s game will almost certainly be another large one. Gainbridge Fieldhouse was sold out for the fourth time this season, and the fans were as loud as they’ve been all year.
It’s inarguable that Reese and Clark are compelling television: two of the best young players in the world squaring off with one another time and time again as they help grow the game along the way.
But what Clark thinks draws audiences most, though, is the “emotion and passion” the two play those showdowns with.
“I think people love to see that,” Clark said. “I think that’s maybe not something that was always appreciated in women’s sports and it should be. That’s what makes it fun. We’re competitors. That’s the way the game should be. It’s going to get a little feisty, it’s going to get a little physical but at the end of the day, both teams are just trying to win.
“I think what she’s done with her platform is incredible. She has an entire fanbase that has supported her [with] what she did at Maryland and then LSU. Obviously, I’ve played her for a very long time and she’s been a tremendous player. It’s been fun to get to compete against. I think it’s been really good for the game. People just love seeing great matchups. But also, at the same time, people tune in for these matchups but then they get to see how amazing these teams are and then they find new players to support and continue to come back for them, too. So, I think that’s another benefit of it, honestly.”
Sunday was another noteworthy moment in the rivalry. Even if both downplayed it, the headlines from the game won’t be about Clark’s near-triple-double or Reese’s double-double. It will bring attention to the league, but not in the way either desire.
The pair, though, is bringing lots of the wanted attention to the league as well. And Reese and Clark will have plenty of opportunities to provide more memorable moments against one another.
The WNBA is not chock full of rivalries that resonate on a national scale the way Clark’s and Reese’s do. The Liberty and Aces are a clear one as the league’s two superteams, but outside of that, there aren’t many other nationally-known rivalries.
Pregame, Fever head coach Christie Sides was asked if their matchups against the Sky feel like rivalry games. Sides, who served as an assistant in Chicago from 2011 through 2016, said it was a “huge” rivalry and has been for many years. But even if that’s how it felt to those on the inside already, the addition of Reese and Clark was always going to bring it up a couple of notches now.
They’re two of the bright young stars in this game and have already defined an era of the college game. They look to be on the path to doing the same in the WNBA as well.
And if they do, it could help elevate the league to its highest levels yet.
