A few weeks ago, after a series of crashes, Logan Saregant was still considered a wobbly dachshund in Formula 1, whose future seemed as uncertain as an English football goalkeeper. In the last few races, the American has overturned Williams’ goal. An F1 expert thinks Sargeant has good chances for 2024.
“I do believe that he is a very realistic number at Williams for 2024,” said former F1 driver Christian Danner in an interview sport.de. “He made a few mistakes, but otherwise he’s relatively close to Albon. He also had a few technical problems, that wasn’t all his fault. He’s actually driving very solid races.”
Williams team boss James Vowles will “adjust his driver decision in the right conditions,” said Danner. “I have the support of the board and the team boss,” agrees Sargeant in an interview with “Sport Bild”.
The “America factor” should not be ignored in the Sargeant case, explained Danner. Background: The Williams racing team belongs to a US investment company – and the premier class of motorsport is booming across the pond, and a US driver is welcome.
Sargeant has shed his reputation as the crash kid for the time being. At the home GP in Austin, the rookie scored the first point of his F1 career. This was only because Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) were disqualified because the underbody was too thin – but who cares? “Of course that helps, it’s good, it’s good for the soul,” says Danner.
Formula 1: Sargeant closes the door on Schumacher
Even more important to Sargeant than the tenth place was the overall Texas picture. Once again he didn’t make any mistakes, he was in line with his strong garage neighbor Alex Albon and performed in all sessions.
A few weeks ago it was different: after one of the 22-year-old’s many accidents, resourceful fans had calculated the damage that Sargeant had allegedly caused over the course of the season: the American’s total was worth 3.5 million euros.
As a reminder: Last year, Mick Schumacher was no longer given a contract at Haas, among other things because of his expensive departures. The young German’s hopes that Williams would now act similarly and take Sargeant’s place in 2024 have largely been dashed. The US boy caught himself. Schumacher is working on a plan B and recently tested an Alpine hypercar for the World Endurance Championship, in which he could drive next year.
Martin Armbruster