With the news that AlphaTauri has settled on Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda as their pairing for the 2024 Formula 1 season, that means just one spot is unsettled for next year.
The spot currently occupied by Logan Sargeant at Williams.
The lone American driver on the grid has been under pressure in recent weeks to solidify his spot for 2024, and his recent performance has led to speculation over whether he will keep that seat for next season. There have been highlights for the rookie driver this season — such as a stunning qualifying session at the Dutch Grand Prix that saw him advance to Q3 — followed by some heartbreaking moments, such as his crash in that very same Q3 that ended his day early.
While the lows might outweigh the highs to this point in the season — Sargeant is the only driver who has been on the grid the entire season yet to score a point this year — there is an argument to be made that he has still earned his place for 2024. And an argument that goes beyond “F1 needs an American driver on the grid” at that.
That argument is one of patience and growth, and it seems that Sargeant’s boss does share that opinion.
Williams Team Principal James Vowles addressed Sargeant’s status on social media Thursday, and while the Williams boss did not come out and say Sargeant had earned another season, he did deliver a strong vote of confidence, outlining how the rookie had been progressing this season:
“And we’re working with him continuously. And that’s the important point. We’re working with him. We want him to succeed and we want him in the car next year,” said Vowles.
The Williams boss also outlined how the gap between Sargeant and Alexander Albon may come down to the difference in the package the team is running for each driver. Albon has consistently outperformed Sargeant this year, but as Vowles noted, Albon is running a different package that contains updates not on Sargeant’s FW45.
“First and foremost, Logan is not on the same aerodynamics specification as Alex was. We have updates there on Alex’s car, but not on Logan’s, due to the amount of attrition we’ve had this year,” said Vowles. “So often when you see a performance offset, it’s not quite what it would seem on the timing pages.”
While Sargeant endured another crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, a massive shunt in Q1 that saw him start on pit lane as a result of the damage to, and repairs needed on, his FW45, Vowles noted that even his effort at Suzuka was impressive, prior to the crash.
“Furthermore to that, if we look at the case of Suzuka, he did a build-up across the weekend. As he went into FP3, he did a time that matched Alex and as we go into qualifying, until the accident, he was overlaying, line on line, within a tenth of Alex’s performance as well, at one of the trickiest circuits of the season,” said Vowles.
“So the progress is there in certain forms, but very clearly being marred by a number of other issues and accidents that have appeared as well.
“We will continue to work with Logan and invest in Logan, as we want him to succeed as the result of the journey he’s on. He’s on a journey with us.”
The bottom line? While Sargeant does have some goals he needs to meet according to his boss, the team has not made the decision to move on from him.
Yet.
“Only at the point where all of us come to the conclusion that we’ve reached the end of that road, will we make any decisions, but we’re nowhere near that yet.”
