In 2023, Logan Sargeant was the first American driver to become a starter in Formula 1 since the 2007 season… but after a difficult year for his debut, the adventure finally ended during the season for the Williams F1 driver .
James Vowles, the director, as well as Dorilton, owner, nevertheless gave Sargeant a lot of time in 2024 before deciding to replace him with Franco Colapinto.
In the 22 Grands Prix contested in 2023, Sargeant was able to contest 14 more this season before being sidelined after the Netherlands. But let’s come back to his season in more detail.
In the first race of the season at the Bahrain International Circuit, he qualified 18th, progressed to 14th place by the second lap, but finished 20th following a steering wheel problem. He then moved up five places at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, starting 19th and finishing 14th. He withdrew from the Australian Grand Prix to allow his teammate Albon to use his chassis; Albon crashed heavily during testing and the team was unable to repair his car. Sargeant described the situation as the “hardest moment” of his career.
Sargeant returns to the Japanese Grand Prix but crashes during practice. During the race, he rose to 11th place but finished 17th after going into the gravel. He describes the Chinese Grand Prix as a “massive struggle” after starting from the pit lane and finishing 17th with a penalty for a safety car violation. He gained eight places to finish 10th in the Miami Grand Prix sprint, but was forced to abandon the feature race after a collision with Kevin Magnussen.
Sargeant made his first Q2 appearance of 2024 at the Canadian Grand Prix, qualifying 13th, but retired from the race after a spin. After finishing last of the competing drivers at the Spanish and Austrian Grands Prix, a better performance at the British Grand Prix saw him qualify 12th and finish 11th, his best results in qualifying and the race the season.
The day after the Belgian Grand Prix, Williams announced that Sargeant would be replaced by Carlos Sainz at the team for the 2025 season. Amid speculation that Sargeant’s position at Williams was in imminent danger, James Vowles kept it going after the summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix, during which Sargeant had a serious accident during practice, forcing him to miss qualifying as the car could not be repaired in time. He finished the race in 16th place.
Two days after the race, Sargeant was released from the team with immediate effect and was replaced by Formula 2 driver Franco Colapinto for the remainder of the 2024 season.
In qualifying, as in 2023, he was soundly beaten again by Alex Albon 13 to 0. And in the race, Albon finished 12 times in front of his teammate. Clear statistics.
Statistics
23rd in the championship with 0 points
— 0 victoire
— 0 pole position
— 0 podium
— 0 best lap
— 0 Hat Trick
— 0 Grand Slam
— 0 laps in the lead
— 769 laps completed (53.25%)
— Average qualifying position: 17.46
— Average race position: 16.67
Comparison with Alex Albon
Race: 12/2 in favor of Alex Albon
Qualifying: 13/0 in favor of Alex Albon
