Williams team principal James Vowles turned down a chance to confirm Logan Sargeant for 2024, raising questions heading into the winter.
With the 2023 season now concluded, almost every team has a confirmed driver combination for 2024. The only exception to this is Williams, who has spent the last few months evaluating the performances and progression of Logan Sargeant.
The American driver ends the year with a 0-22 record against teammate Alex Albon in qualifying. His direct comparison on race day isn’t much more flattering either, only besting his Thai teammate on two occasions. Whilst he is allowed some leeway as a rookie, the deficit in the Williams garage is significant.
There have been signs of improvement from Sargeant, to be sure. However, the youngster’s performance in 2023 has been far from outstanding. Several rookies, from Liam Lawson to Oscar Piastri, have shown significantly more promise over the last eighteen months.
Of course, there are several factors to consider. Sargeant often points out his lack of experience and testing time before round one in Bahrain. With that said, the excuse of limited running begins to lose its weight after completing thousands of laps throughout an F1 season.
Speaking after the Abu Dhabi GP, team principal James Vowles could not confirm the 22-year-old for 2024:
“I’m afraid you’re getting ahead of yourself. But whatever happens, Logan has been in our academy for many, many years.
“He will always remain a part of our academy. He’s still an excellently quick driver.
“But I think also, if we step away from that and look at the last five races and how he’s been improving, I think you can see signs that he’s doing what we need to earn the seat.
“But we’re not in a position to confirm that at this point in time. The main thing I want him to be aware of, is I’m proud of the steps he’s made.”
On paper, Sargeant’s contributions have been very limited this year. Alex Albon has secured 27 out of Williams’ 28 points in the 2023 campaign. Whilst this was enough to cling to P7 on this occasion, the Grove-based team will need more from their second driver moving forward.
Generally speaking, James Vowles has been a regular defender of his rookie driver. There have been question marks surrounding the 22-year-old for much of this year, but this hasn’t seemed to impact Vowles’ belief in his abilities.
However, it seems Sargeant’s place at Williams is far from guaranteed. In some ways, this shift in rhetoric is a surprise, given the general tune Williams has sung throughout 2023.
Still, Williams cannot be blamed for evaluating other options before completing next year’s driver line-up.
