F1 News: Williams Chief Outlines Logan Sargeant Targets For Contract Extension
Williams team principal, James Vowles, has commented on what Logan Sargeant has to do to ensure him a seat in 2025. The young American driver has a contract that sees him with the Grove squad until the end of 2024 alongside teammate Alex Albon, who will be staying at least until the end of 2025.
Key takeaways
- Logan Sargeant needs to show continuous improvement to stay with Williams post-2024, as per team principal James Vowles.
- Sargeant's rookie year had challenges but included a top 10 finish and a strong qualifying at the Las Vegas GP.
- Emphasis on progress without errors, with Sargeant's current season starting promisingly in practice sessions.
Williams F1
Logan Sargeant's inaugural season in Formula 1 in 2023 was a period of significant growth and challenges. Competing with Williams, he finished 21 in the driver's standings out of 22 drivers, indicative of a year filled with learning opportunities for the newcomer.
His highest achievement in qualifying came with a 7th place at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, although he often found himself starting near the back due to various challenges in qualifying and penalties incurred.
On the track, Sargeant's efforts bore fruit in a handful of races, despite the overarching struggles. He managed a top 10 finish in the United States Grand Prix, where he clinched the P10. However, his best race finish came at the British Grand Prix, where he secured the 11th position.
Compared to his experienced teammate, Alex Albon, he still has plenty to learn. And while we're not yet two races into the season, Vowles has a good idea of the driver's targets this season.
"It's important to him to get good results," the Williams chief said in today's press conference. "The only thing I would say is it's not the early on bit. What we have to see from him is progress as we continue on.
"Early on implies that there's a risk if he's not performing after three races that something will happen, and that's simply not the case. In the case of Logan, he knows that he finished last year starting to build on what he had as an experience base, and he's coming back here not as a rookie now, but someone that has years of experience behind him.
"He's got to build on that without mistakes, without error, and continually move forward. And I would say today in FP1, happy with that when you look at the gap to Alex, but the field is so tight now that just a tenth is pushing you back four or five places where we are."
Sargeant finished P16 in FP2 after finishing 14th on the timesheet in FP1. This comes after a difficult Bahrain campaign where the driver suffered from steering wheel issues that severely impacted his race with him finishing at the back of the pack, while Albon, who also suffered, finished P15.
Hopefully the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be a luckier weekend for the pair.