Written by Matthew Brixton-Lee, Edited by Sameena Khan
Logan Sargeant is an American Formula 2 driver. He is part of the Williams driver academy, and he is currently third in the driver standings and fighting for the title. That is what most of you will immediately think when I mention Logan Sargeant. So I bet most of you are thinking, why is he so special? Well, I am here to tell you why I believe he deserves to be at Williams next year.
Sargeant’s early career was quite frankly dominant, with him winning almost everything he entered in the Karting scene, and once he reached car racing, it wasn't much different. We will start following his story in 2019 when he was in his first year of Formula 3. He was racing for Carlin and honestly it was a poor season as Carlin was the worst team on the grid. However, Sargeant managed to salvage five points from an awful season. Not just this, but he managed to bag himself a drive for Prema, arguably the best team in junior Formula, which set him up brilliantly for the 2020 season.
As we all well know, 2020 was a challenging year and the covid season began at the Red Bull Ring. The year started well with second place in the Feature race. The year continued much like this, and into the final race of the year, Sargeant was level on points with the main contender Oscar Piastri and ten points ahead of Théo Pourchaire. However, in the last race Sargeant was taken out of the race by a crash, and he lost the championship to Piastri, who finished in seventh. Not only that, but Pourchaire finished in third, meaning Sargeant was demoted to third in the standings.
Overall, it had been a good season, with Sargeant having the most wins. So you would think that this would catch the eye of a team in Formula Two, right? Wrong! Due to his lack of funding, Sargeant was unable to find a seat in Formula 2 and had to remain in Formula 3. But he had to move to the Charouz racing system team. The Czech team was by far the worst on the grid, and nobody expected him to be anywhere near the top. But Sargeant showed his talent, and he managed to drag himself into seventh in the drivers' championship. He also pulled the team to a lofty fifth in the team standings whilst managing to score a sole win at the Russian sprint race.
His talent caught the eye of many driver academies but it was Williams F1 who at the United States Grand Prix, announced they had signed the American to their driver academy. Furthermore, it was announced that after an extra year's wait Sargeant had earned a seat in Formula Two with Carlin. His career was back on track.
In 2022 Sargeant has performed well so far, winning the feature race at Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring. He currently sits third in the drivers' standings behind previous rival Pourchaire and championship leader Felipe Drugovich. Sargeant is currently 61 points behind the championship leader, and he still has time to make up the gap after a couple of unlucky weekends in France and Hungary. But no matter what happens in the latter stage of the season, he will be the highest placed rookie, and he is deserving of an F1 drive, in my opinion.
Being part of the Williams Driver Academy, it makes sense that Sargeant should be the one to replace Nicholas Latifi, and I believe that now is the time to bring Sargent into the top tier of motorsport. Latifi started in Formula One in 2020 and has shown no great promise. He has cost Williams a lot of money in 2022 with numerous crashes, especially in the early part of the season. And seeing as Latifi is a pay driver, not much more should be expected of him. But Williams is now no longer in financial difficulty and does not need a pay driver anymore. This is why I believe that in his place, Sargeant should be promoted as he has shown his high level of talent to be able to perform at the top of Formula One.
So whether it is next season or not, I believe that Logan Sargeant can and will be driving in Formula One one day. He has shown his talent to be of high class, and he has persevered despite setbacks to make him the driver he is today. Later this year, he will take part in FP1 at his home race at Circuit of the Americas. This will be his final test to prove he is good enough for Formula One. But what do you think? Do you believe Sargent deserves his chance in F1, or do others deserve the seat more?