Sargeant experiences how tough F1 is: 'It exhausts you mentally'

Not just on track, but certainly off it, Formula 1 is totally incomparable to the step-up classes. Partly because of the outside pressure, F1 is much more intense than what he was used to, Sargeant told GPblog and others. "Yes, for sure. I knew it would be a lot more than Formula 2 but I think it's tough. It's a lot more mentally draining and it's hard to find a balance from off-track to on-track and the amount that you have to do away from the track. You still have to make sure that you're charged for when you get to the track."

F1 drivers are busy

Sargeant, meanwhile, realises that there is a lot to do at times when the cars are not on the track; there are the sessions with his engineers, the extensive sponsorship commitments (often late into the evening) and, of course, dealing with the media. "That's another point, still learning with that," said Sargeant.

Already 12 Grands Prix behind his belt, the constant travelling around the world; it's a physical assault on everyone in the paddock. So just before the summer break, there was the moment that because of the increased fatigue, people in F1 started to become somewhat moody. "Yeah, I think you definitely start to get a little bit more on edge. I think that's honestly somewhat normal. I think some weekends are worse than others. But for sure, it's something that needs to be managed," the American said.