Logan Sargeant came into 2024 with a lot to prove having qualified behind his team mate in every round during his debut season and only taken a single point.
Williams left no one in any doubt about their estimation of their drivers’ capabilities when they gave their sole remaining chassis to Alexander Albon for the Australian Grand Prix – even though he was responsible for the damage to the other one. But he duly took the car to 11th place – a result Sargeant only matched once during his truncated season.In Sargeant’s defence, he did not always have access to Williams’ latest parts. The team fell behind with its upgrade plan during the season and Albon invariably received the new hardware first.
However this was partly a consequence of the damage Sargeant incurred. Early in the season he crashed in practice at Jeddah and Suzuka, then endured an error-strewn race in Canada which ended with a crash.
Logan Sargeant
Best | Worst | |
---|---|---|
GP start | 12 | 20 |
GP finish | 11 | 20 (x2) |
Points | 0 |
He finally got his hands on Williams’ latest hardware at Zandvoort, in what proved to be his final appearance for the team. Sargeant carelessly ran onto wet grass during the final practice session and comprehensively destroyed his FW46, leaving the team with another extensive and expensive rebuilding job.
By this stage in the season Williams had already announced Sargeant would not keep his seat for 2025. Though there was no shame in being dropped for a driver of Carlos Sainz Jnr’s calibre, Williams’s decision to show Sargeant the door nine races before the end of the season to take a chance on an untried rookie was a damning verdict on his performance.
RaceFans’ driver rankings are based partly on the scores awarded to drivers for their performances in each round as well as other factors.
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David
20th January 2025, 7:44
He was an unexpected signing in the first place. And after a poor first season, I respected Williams’ generosity in giving him a second season to show progress. But that generosity was wasted. He was never up to scratch.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
20th January 2025, 19:27
To be fair, Williams never really gave him a fair shake, and he should have never been signed, due to a clear lack of sponsorship / monied interest. And I would wager, his signing had more to do with another team bosses interest in having an American on the grid for the Las Vegas GP.
He showing signs of improvement before he was cut, and I think his replacement ended up costing the team more in repairs.
Its always darkest before the light, lets hope Williams attitude is pointy end up and the leadership solely concerned with Williams success, and not it’s engine supplier’s success.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
20th January 2025, 8:01
I am so happy this series isn’t dead, I’ve been following the post-season rankings since 2008. Thanks @keithcollantine !!
Chris Scott
20th January 2025, 9:17
It does feel a bit late in the day, though. I was looking forward to enjoying the driver ratings over the festive break.
Wer
21st January 2025, 15:26
It actually is TOO LATE.
The 2024 season has long ended and it’s like last year’s snow – I don’t care about, I’m done discussing it.
It’s 2025 and I’m only interested in the upcoming season and news.
El Pollo Loco
20th January 2025, 12:15
Is there anything you expect to learn from one more driver rankings list?
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
20th January 2025, 12:52
It’s a yearly tradition for me. One of the first F1 articles I ever read on this website was the 2008 driver’s rankings and agreeing that Kubica deserved to be considered the best driver that year. It’s just something I look forward to every year now.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st January 2025, 1:58
Same here, it’s not about learning stuff, it’s about it being one of the most interesting articles that come out here.
Also, that doesn’t go for everyone, but for me, definitely the writers here pay more attention than me to what happens among the backmarkers, as it’s very forgettable.
Luke S (@joeypropane)
20th January 2025, 11:19
Put some respect on this man’s name – he out-qualified a Red Bull SIX times.
statistics are king
20th January 2025, 11:36
He even out-performed a Red Bull driver in the average driver ratings this year.
El Pollo Loco
20th January 2025, 12:12
One of the many stats that drive home just how shockingly, unbelievably bad Perez was in the Red Bull and how much tolerance his sponsors bought him.
Craig
20th January 2025, 14:35
Don’t forget Perez won races at Red Bull. Doesn’t excuse some of his later form but worth remembering.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st January 2025, 2:00
Unfortunately, that doesn’t impact the 2024 driver rankings, as it’s been longer ago!
Jere (@jerejj)
20th January 2025, 11:37
Finally driver rankings & an unsurprising bottom position, although Checo is equally fitting to be ranked last, given the car & that he got out-qualified by even Sargeant a total of six times.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
20th January 2025, 11:51
#22, so I assume Doohan and even Bearman aren’t included on the list?
El Pollo Loco
20th January 2025, 12:18
It makes sense to me. They’ll either be ranked way higher than they should be off such a small sample size or too low for the same reason. If they were doing driver ratings and instead of rankings, then it’d make sense to include them.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
20th January 2025, 12:45
Sure, although I remember there were times years ago when drivers with 1 start were included. But it doesn’t really matter.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
20th January 2025, 19:07
Certainly the worst driver in the 10 team era. Shockingly slow and bewildered, it was a major ricket by Vowles to give him a 2nd season but i can see what he was trying to do. On the positive side he showed F1 is not easy.
ykiki (@ykiki)
20th January 2025, 20:08
So much promise when he tied Albon’s qualifying time on his debut after having an even quicker time deleted after barely touching the pit line. Unfortunately, that tiny bit of carelessness was a greater sign of things to come.
I still wonder if things may have turned out differently if he has outqualified Albon on debut. Millimeters count, so we’ll never know.