The latest rising star to be fast-tracked to Formula 1, Logan Sargeant will take his place on the grand prix grid for Williams in 2023, having joined its Driver Academy at the end of 2021 and completed a season in Formula 2.
Sargeant won two races in his rookie F2 year, and finished fourth in the championship, which brought him enough points to secure his superlicence.
He will be the first American in Formula 1 since Alexander Rossi in 2015, and is likely to carry the support of the series’ growing US fanbase.
Logan Sargeant’s early karting success
Sargeant committed to moving to Europe at a young age and became only the second American in history to win a world karting championship in 2015. He clinched the KF-Junior title in Italy after winning four out of five heats and then leading every lap of the final from pole, ahead of future F2 rivals Felipe Drugovich and Clément Novalak.
That promise earned him a seat in the 2016/17 Formula 4 UAE Championship, where he finished on the podium in every race, but never won: he came second in the championship to Jonathan Aberdein who did win almost every race.
Logan Sargeant vs Oscar Piastri — the early years
A season in the 2017 British Formula 4 championship followed, where he and Oscar Piastri battled for second place, behind Jamie Caroline who built an unassailable lead, with eight victories in the first 11 races of the season.
After a year in Formula Renault Eurocup, Sargeant joined Carlin’s Formula 3 team, with a low-key debut season where he finished 19th.
A move to Prema transformed his fortunes in 2020, but there was a familiar foe blocking his way to the title: battle resumed with Piastri, who had also joined Prema, and the pair of future F1 drivers scrapped all season, along with Théo Pourchaire.
But luck wasn’t with Sargeant for the final races of the year. Having fought wheel-to-wheel with Piastri at Monza in the first race of the penultimate round, Sargeant was tagged by Clément Novalak and spun, finishing at the back of the field.
Novalak evened up the treatment in the following race by taking Piastri out, but Sargeant couldn’t capitalise — he collided with team-mate Frederik Vesti and retired, having been in a position to take the lead in the championship.
At Mugello, the three-way F3 title battle went down to the final race of the year. Sargeant would play no part, though, after a first lap collision took him out, leaving Piastri to emerge victorious over Pourchaire, and only four points ahead of Sargeant.
Sargeant’s path to Formula 1
Sargeant’s career then appeared to stall, as he lacked the funding to progress to Formula 2. After looking at opportunities back in the US, he returned to Formula 3 with the less-competitive Charouz team. Although it lacked the fireworks of the previous year, it was still the most Charouz’s most successful season, and it caught the eye of Williams, which signed Sargeant to its Driver Academy and helped pave the way for a Formula 2 seat with Carlin.
Instantly competitive in the higher formula, Sargeant took two victories in his debut season and was named rookie of the year, having finished fourth in the championship won by Felipe Drugovich, and just a point short of third place Liam Lawson in third and 15 points behind old rival Pourchaire in second.
More crucially, it earned him enough points for a superlicence, which allowed Williams to sign him to its Formula 1 team for the 2023 season alongside Alex Albon.
A Williams F1 career under scrutiny
Logan Sargeant began the 2023 season with sympathy, being plunged straight into Formula 1 competition with minimal track preparation in a modern car. Unsurprisingly, there were several errors and he failed to finish seven times over the course of the season.
By the summer break, pressure was mounting on Sargeant, who had still not scored any points while team-mate Alex Albon had 11. Team boss James Vowles was publicly supportive, pointing out Sargeant’s lack of time in the car, and pledging to back the driver in achieving the unspecified targets that were being asked of him. His form did improve as the season came to a close, with two home races providing a breakthrough. After a debut points finish in Austin followed shortly by qualifying seventh in Las Vegas, he earned another year at the team.
Sargeant’s 2024 contract could be seen as delaying the inevitable, however. Approaching the summer break he again had yet to score points, with Albon — in a less-competitive car than the previous year — finishing twice in the top ten. While errors continued, there was some mitigation: his team-mate was given upgrades ahead of Sargeant earlier in the season, and when Albon crashed and damaged his car’s chassis in practice for the Australian Grand Prix, he was given Sargeant’s car, with the American forced to sit out the race weekend. The team had no spare chassis and logically saw Albon as the most likely to score points.
For the first time, Sargeant also outqualified Albon twice — albeit for sprint races rather than full grands prix, but the pressure remained on, amid rumours that Williams was considering replacing the American mid-season, and talking of tougher targets that he had to meet in 2024.
