On the Thursday of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Williams Racing driver Logan Sargeant was once again answering questions about his future. Whether the American knew already that he was going to be replaced by Carlos Sainz for the following season is probably something we will never know.
However, just a few days later Williams Racing made the official announcement that Carlos Sainz would indeed be replacing Sargeant in 2025. Williams had always said they were “continually evaluating” Sargeant’s performance to see if a mid-2024 change is required and Vowles also said on numerous occasions “It’s a meritocracy, you have to make sure you earn your place in the sport continuously.”
Sargeant had previously remarked in Hungary that he thinks his driving has been going well as he said: “I’ve been in the rhythm for a long time now, I just didn’t have the chance to show it.” One clear occasion early in the season when Sargeant was deprived an opportunity to show his talent was at the Australian Grand Prix when the team made the decision for teammate Alex Albon to take Sargeant’s car after a well publicised crash in free practice had seen the team reveal that they had no spare chassis. The alarm bells must have been going for Sargeant then seeing how the team clearly felt that Albon was the better driver for the race.
As criticised as that decision may have been, fast forward to the close of the Belgian Grand Prix and it will show that Sargeant was yet to outqualify Albon for any F1 Grand Prix. In 35 standard qualifying sessions as teammates, the Thai-British racer has always come out on top.
However, it must also be remembered that Sargeant has only benefited from the upgrades Albon received since the end of June. A point not lost on Sargeant and supported by the fact that the American’s best performance followed at the British Grand Prix – a week after he received the upgrades. The driver of car number 2 agonisingly finished P11 (having qualified P12) which meant he just missed out on a point. Whilst Albon finished two places higher bringing two priceless points the way of Williams.
Sargeant was asked in Belgium on Media Day ahead of F1’s summer break as to whether the gap in time prior to Austria between where he is compared to his teammate can be explained by car differences, spec differences and that kind of thing? The year-old- was clear in his response as he said, “For sure, the majority of it.” Then he reflected later in the press conference on his season in greater detail and also made clear that there is no rift between himself and Team Principal James Vowles.
“It hasn’t been a particularly easy season with the amount of things that have happened, both to me, from a team perspective, we’ve struggled in some areas, so of course it can look like our relationship is worse than it is from the outside, but yeah, we just go to work as usual, and keep trying to perform the best we can.”
Recent race weekends have also seen Sargeant’s qualifying pace much closer to that of Albon’s. Come race day though, the gap widens and so the American racer was asked as to whether this is a result of the race developing with strategy, traffic and so on or is there something more behind it?
“It’s a little bit of everything.” Sargeant claimed. “I think there’s definitely still some areas in terms of race pace that I can work on. I think on the other side, when I look at Hungary, we definitely didn’t quite get the strategy right, we sat in dirty air for the entire race, so those are big variables as well. So, I would say it’s more than just one thing, but I think there is some work I can do to improve it.”
Teammate Albon has previously said the FW46 feels a little bit the same as last year’s car but less extreme. The Thai-British racer said: “There’s still a little bit of similarities between last year’s car and this year’s car. The extremes are much less.” Having made this claim, Sargeant was asked whether he agreed with him but the reply which followed showed that he did not.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it feels the same. I would think there was some very big changes to the car that changed a few of the biggest negative characteristics that we had in the car last year, which has kind of moved some of the negatives to other areas. But it’s definitely more put together than it was last year. But clearly, we’re still missing pace and ultimately that’s the most important thing to find. So, we still have our work to do.”
Williams Racing’s under fire driver was also asked as to whether any part of him would be a little bit relieved if he is not in F1 next year, simply because of the intensity of the spotlight that is focused on every single driver within the sport, whether you’re at the front of the grid or the back of the grid?
“No, I wouldn’t necessarily say relieved. I think the bit that’s been tough this year is just how many races we haven’t had the same opportunity. That’s not always nice to show up to a race weekend and just know you’re on the back foot, especially when you’re against 19 of the other best drivers in the world. It’s really hard to be able to make much happen in that instance. So, of course I would have liked a cleaner run at it through this first 14 races. But in the end, like I said, it’s been looking better and better round after round. Just keep focusing on what I’m doing and we’ll see where we go.”
Wherever Sargeant goes in 2025, the world knows that it will not be with Williams Racing. The 23-year-old has already said he is looking at opportunities inside and outside of F1. It was also pointed out to him in Belgium that other motorsport series do not shut down over the summer like Formula 1 does, so with that in mind does that present an opportunity during those two weeks for him or his manager to have those discussions with other teams beyond F1?
“Yeah, I suppose.” was the American’s reply before highlighting his main aim for the summer break. “In the end, I think it’s important for me to take a bit of time off as well. It’s hard enough to go the whole year without really stopping, so I think it is important to get a certain amount of time away from it completely. So put a bit more weight on his [the manager’s] shoulders to figure it out. No, I’m sure conversations will be had. Just what, I don’t know yet.”
What is known is that Logan Sargeant has been and currently is still a Formula One driver and as the American has previously said: “There’s nothing to be disappointed about. I get to drive an F1 car. And not many people can say that.” For how much longer remains to be seen but the history-making American (after becoming the first American driver to score a point in an F1 race in 30 years last season) has certainly left his mark on the pinnacle of motorsport.
