Williams are yet to announce if Logan Sargeant will retain his race seat for a second year, but he is already setting targets for the 2024 season.
The team achieved its goal of finishing seventh in the constructors’ standings at last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as Alexander Albon and team mate Sargeant finished 14th and 16th respectively. Albon scored all but one of Williams’ 28 points this year, and came 13th in the standings while Sargeant was 21st.Sargeant said the team’s constructors’ championship result “means a lot to me.”
“I did the best I could to make sure we held that today. Alex has done a phenomenal job all year, and he’s majorly to thank for that.”
He spent much of his Abu Dhabi Grand Prix time holding up Daniel Ricciardo of AlphaTauri, Williams’ closest threat in the points standings.
“With the progress I’ve been making through the year, it’s been really nice for me to see,” said Sargeant. “Hopefully I can contribute more in the future.
“The team’s done great with the car this year. I think it speaks even more volumes, the fact we only brought one upgrade to the car the whole season, and to do what we did was strong and we can be proud of that. Hopefully the car will be another step forward next year.”
Sargeant is due to drive for the team in tomorrow’s post-season test at the aYas Marina circuit. After testing ends, Sargeant will spend an extra day or two in Abu Dhabi “to relax – let my body recover, let my mind relax” before heading to Williams’ factory. “I still have some stuff to finish up at the factory this year,” he said.
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While Sargeant’s place in the team next year has not yet been officially confirmed, his presence at the test is a sign the team is not looking elsewhere. He believes he’s demonstrated his commitment to the team.
“I’ve given my all, all season,” he said. “I’m not the type of person to ever give in. I think that showed in Vegas, this end of the season where the pace has been strong. I’m never the type to give up. I gave it everything all year and hopefully I’m back to do more next year.”
The momentum Sargeant feels he has built in the second half of the season is something he wants to build on in 2024 if he gets the chance to.
“I still think the pace I’ve had since the summer break has been strong. I haven’t always unlocked that potential and I think that’s the next step that needs to be made. But the fact it’s all there, is positive. And I feel like I’m starting to crack the code more and more as the season went on.
“Qualifying pace was massively improving toward the end of the year, but in terms of race pace as well, since the summer break it’s been so, so much closer. I’ve been disappointed with myself at times this season, of course, but I’ll never give up.”
Williams decided early on in the year to switch their development focus to their 2024 car, but are leaving it late to decide who will drive that car alongside Albon.
“Whatever happens, Logan’s been a part of our academy for many, many years, and he will always remain a part of our academy,” Williams’ team principal James Vowles told the official F1 channel after yesterday’s race.
“He’s still an excellently quick driver. But also, if we step away from that, look at the last five races and how he’s been improving and stepping forward, I think you can see signs that he’s doing what we need to earn the seat, but we’re not in a position to confirm that just at this point in time.
“The main thing I wanted him to be aware of is I’m proud of the steps he’s made across this year. We have time together across this winter, many days across the winter, and let’s see what comes out of that.”
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2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
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Hans Herrmann (@twentyseven)
27th November 2023, 16:50
Who would you put in instead.. Theo Pourchaire would be an exciting choice
Dex
27th November 2023, 17:54
I wouldn’t put him. He didn’t impress me in F2 so far despite winning the title, because I did watch most, if not all of his races in the past couple of years. After all, he was far, far behind Drugovich last year, and he didn’t get a chance either. And Drugovich won the title after all the faster guys had already left F2. I don’t think that chance in F1 should be inherited, but deserved. I don’t think that F2 title means that much today, considering that there are many young drivers in F1 and just outside of F1 waiting for their chance.
In the end, we’re all guessing anyway; he may prove me wrong. But he’s far from what Leclerc was in F2, or Norris, Russel, even Schumacher or Drugovich; and I’d also rate Vesti ahead of him despite him winning less points in the end.
Matt (@hollidog)
27th November 2023, 18:00
Agreed. Winning F2 in your 3rd year doesn’t mean anything these days, as Drugovich and Pourchaire have found out.
Williams have left it too late, there is no one with experience left, and there are no good rookies with superlicences. They may as well stick with Sargeant.
dot_com (@dot_com)
27th November 2023, 20:24
I wonder if there might be some driver movement over the break. I still think that Lance Stroll might not be on the grid next year.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th November 2023, 6:22
@dot_com Doubtful
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
27th November 2023, 18:40
Why would Williams pay another F1 team compensation for a contracted driver out of a mediocre F2 field? Frank Williams liked his Brazilian drivers and F1’s a more serious, miserable place without one, but Drugovich has chosen to queue up behind Alonso and Stroll – good luck with that. Maybe there’s a deal for Vesti plus gearboxes and engines, but why not stick with a driver they know well, with twenty-odd F1 races under his belt?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
27th November 2023, 19:16
Exactly cause they know him well: they know him well enough to know he can’t perform!
dot_com (@dot_com)
27th November 2023, 19:21
I think JV is very interested in Vesti, so it’s possible that he’s running Sargeant in the Abu Dhabi test so that he can directly compare his data against Vesti’s. I personally think Williams have nothing to lose and everything to gain by putting Sargent in the sim for a year. If this was the 2022 or 2021 Williams then you could understand Logan’s poor results, but it’s often been very competitive and he’s failed to deliver consistently for an entire year. I like Logan as a person, but Williams need two cars scoring points.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
27th November 2023, 23:51
There’s too many JV’s.
Vowles, Verstappen, Villeneuve.
Had to scratch my head and got a splinter
Jere (@jerejj)
28th November 2023, 10:24
@dot_com
That could be the case only if Vesti were driving the Williams today, but he isn’t, so comparing is impossible because of car differences.
Therefore, running Sargeant in the test is a clear indication of keeping him.
Martin (@f1hornet)
27th November 2023, 21:36
It’s strange that they haven’t made an announcement either way yet. I wonder if they’re trying to figure out if they can get in a driver with more money attached, and a trying to engineer a bidding war for the seat?
Shimks (@shimks)
27th November 2023, 22:30
@f1hornet, Zak O’Sullivan and Franco Colapinto are sharing Williams’ 2nd car in tomorrow’s post-season test at Yas Marina. If one of them blows Sargeant out of the water, maybe they will promote him for 2024 and drop Sargeant. Both O’Sullivan and Colapinto are only now stepping up from F3 to F2, so it would have to be something pretty special to convince Williams’ management to put one of them in Sargeant’s seat. Maybe it’s about sponsorship too. Maybe one of those drivers could bring a lot more sponsorship money with them than Sargeant does. There’s definitely some event holding back Williams from announcing Sargeant for next year, and I guess it’s tomorrow’s testing – seeing as he hasn’t been very impressive – but I don’t really know.
Neil (@njf03)
28th November 2023, 1:10
Colapinto may be eligible for a super license but not O’Sullivan, I think- very hard to work out.
Nick T.
28th November 2023, 1:00
It’d be strange if they DID make an announcement soon. There is a 0% change Logan will be signed by anyone else. That means they can wait as long as they want to see if a better option shakes loose in the off season. There’s not much out there though even counting Lawson who only tied Logan in F2 and whose “big result” was really a 14th place turned into 9th as a result of five cars retiring.
I like Ollie Bearman, but it’s likely Ferrari would retain the option to take him back.
Nick T.
28th November 2023, 1:03
Speaking of Ferrari, with only Haas set to run their engine in 2026, it seems like Williams might have a good opportunity to form a mutually beneficial partnership now that the midfielders and tail enders aren’t in a zero-power situation and have a good leader like Vowles to negotiate for them.
Neil (@njf03)
28th November 2023, 1:19
Bearman falls short on the superlicense points.
Nick T.
28th November 2023, 5:35
The new FIA super license rules are ludicrous. What a money making racket.
Jere (@jerejj)
28th November 2023, 10:25
Nick T. They aren’t exactly new anymore as they’ve existed since 2016, but I don’t find them ludicrous, although I wouldn’t mind if the points system were dropped, but age limit kept alongside 300 km F1 car running at proper speeds & rule studying.
Jere (@jerejj)
28th November 2023, 10:27
He may still wait, but he’s effectively or 99% guaranteed of continuing because otherwise his race engineer Gaetan Jego wouldn’t have said ”looking forward to next year buddy” in the post-race cooldown lap radio comm by which he clearly meant he’s looking forward to working together again without room for interpretation.
These words are an even clearer indication than the test participation, which wouldn’t have happened either if he were about to get sacked, as no team would run an outgoing driver in a post-season test anymore.
Only a matter of days or weeks before a formal announcement comes.
Simon
28th November 2023, 22:44
Over the moon this has been clarified for you
Jere (@jerejj)
29th November 2023, 6:24
Lol. You always come up with funny ways.