Williams offered Logan Sargeant some assurance over his immediate future after confirming Carlos Sainz Jnr will take his place at the team next year.
The team said it “thanked Logan Sargeant for his hard work and dedication over the past two years” after confirming Sainz’s arrival in 2025.“Williams will give Logan every support as he looks to continue his racing career for 2025 and into the future,” it added.
However the prospects of Sargeant landing a seat at another team appear slim. Sargeant’s position has been in doubt for much of the season, as it was in the closing stages of last year.
After a year and a half in Formula 1 he has still not out-qualified his team mate for a grand prix. As team principal James Vowles pointed out recently, such a one-sided performance between their two drivers leaves the team somewhat in the dark about where the ultimate performance of their car lies.
The circumstances of the Australian Grand Prix spoke volumes about Sargeant’s status within the team. Alexander Albon crashed heavily in practice, wrecking one of the team’s two chassis. With no spare available, Williams told Sargeant to take the weekend off and gave his car to Albon.
Sargeant also made a substantial contribution towards increasing Williams’ repair bill over the opening races, prompting speculation he might not even see out the season with the team. Vowles went a long way towards ending that speculation, stating he expects Sargeant will “continue to fight hard for us in the races ahead” this year.
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With one new driver already confirmed on the 2025 grid and another tipped to join, at least one of the existing racers must make way. Sargeant is on the market alongside drivers with significantly more experience than him, such as Kevin Magnussen and potentially Valtteri Bottas.
While the results simply haven’t been there for Sargeant, he has borne the pressures that comes with that admirably well. Barring an unexpected move to somewhere like Alpine, a team whose future is unclear, it’s unlikely he will be back on the grid next year.
Sargeant will therefore head into the second half of the season no longer under pressure to perform to save his seat. And if Williams finally produce their long-awaited upgrade, perhaps America’s most recent points-scoring driver might even get the chance to add to his tally before moving on.
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Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
29th July 2024, 16:50
Is this Red Bulls chance to grab a competitive driver for their second seat?
Jere (@jerejj)
29th July 2024, 17:04
Sargeant hasn’t shown anything for any other team to be interested in his services.
notagrumpyfan
29th July 2024, 20:41
You must’ve recognised the sarcasm in the original post.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
29th July 2024, 18:05
I know you’re joking, but even he would probably be an improvement on Perez!
Patrick (@paeschli)
29th July 2024, 18:53
No he would not
dot_com (@dot_com)
29th July 2024, 17:03
In a way I feel bad for him. He seems like a nice chap, but he’s just out of his depth. Perhaps he was promoted to F1 too early, perhaps the pressure of F1 was too much, or perhaps he’s just not good enough.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
29th July 2024, 17:27
He pushed Piastri hard for the F3 title, but never seemed that convincing when he made the step up to F2.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th July 2024, 17:47
@dot_com Most likely the last equation. Simply not enough progress to be viable for a long-term career in F1, just like many other drivers over the years.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th July 2024, 17:04
I see IndyCar as his most likely resort for racing career continuation.
Asd
29th July 2024, 19:21
He would get decimated in IndyCar. So yeah, I like the idea :)
FlyingLap (@flyinglapp)
30th July 2024, 1:14
This Sargeant is not going to get promoted. Probably a lateral transfer to Indycars or WEC.
An Sionnach
30th July 2024, 8:36
He’s showing an improvement lately, but it’s too little, too late. No flashes of brilliance or speed, though. Staying on this year might be more to do with who would be available for a few months and whether the team thinks there’s anything to be gained by trying a reserve driver. Since the car is a bit of a poison chalice, it wouldn’t be worth getting them into it.