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Williams boss Jost Capito says his team had to give Logan Sargeant a Formula 1 race seat for 2023 otherwise it would have “done something wrong”.
Sargeant has been announced as Alex Albon’s team-mate in place of Nicholas Latifi on the condition he gains eligibility for an F1 superlicence, which should be straightforward in the Formula 2 season finale.
The 21-year-old American’s F2 performances have helped Williams view him as a legitimate F1 option while his nationality is a good commercial asset given F1’s growing popularity in the United States.
Capito, Williams CEO and team principal, said: “It is good for Formula 1 to have an American driver. [But] we didn’t pick Logan in the academy because he’s American, we picked him because of his success and his past in racing.
“If we take the kids, if we put them into the academy, it’s the objective to get them in the Formula 1 car.
“And if you have a young driver who is ready for Formula 1, and you have the seat, then you have to put the young driver into the seat – otherwise, you’ve done something wrong.
“That’s why we came to that conclusion, that it is the right thing. And that Logan is American is just nice to have, but it’s not the initiation of the decision.”
Sargeant has found himself suddenly on the brink of his F1 debut through a mix of circumstances as well.
Williams had a loan deal lined up for Oscar Piastri but that fell through when he signed a deal to leave Alpine for McLaren, and then Nyck de Vries – who drove for Williams in the Italian Grand Prix and scored points on his debut in the process – was poached by AlphaTauri when he was widely thought to be Williams’s preferred choice.
This opened the door to Sargeant, who joined the Williams young driver programme 12 months ago and has impressed in his rookie F2 season, winning two races to run third in the championship before the final round.
Capito says that Williams felt Sargeant was ready to race in F1 “from Silverstone onwards”, once he showed he could win in F2.
That came too early in the season to make a commitment, although other factors have ended up fast-tracking Sargeant’s promotion anyway.
Capito claimed that this is “not really” happening quicker than expected but added: “You never know how the development is.
“From my history, I’m known to get young drivers in quickly. Because that’s the best way to find out what the potential really is and not park him.
“And if we see that somebody is ready, like we see Logan this season, then we can take the decision.
“He wouldn’t have been lost if we would have decided he needs another year in F2, then he would have done that as well.
“But we see that coming in as a rookie, winning races and showing that performance in qualifying, it’s the right thing to step up.”
Sargeant made his F1 debut driving for Williams in last season’s post-Abu Dhabi test.
As part of his F1 preparations he will have a 2021 car test programme of some kind with “a number of private testing days”.
It’s an impressive career turnaround for a driver who was set to leave Europe and possibly single-seaters altogether at the end of 2020.
Sargeant said: “Honestly, I think as a driver, you never give up on the belief and the hope and you just keep working hard to hopefully eventually reach your goal.
“Williams has given me an absolutely unbelievable opportunity to race in Formula 2 this year, and the support they’ve given me gives confidence as a young driver.
“Now I just need to finish the deal in Abu Dhabi.”
Exactly where Sargeant needs to finish in F2 to secure a superlicence depends on what bonus points he is eligible for.
He has 27 points from his Formula 3 results, picked up a bonus point for his FP1 outing at the United States Grand Prix on Friday, and as Williams has now decided to put Sargeant in for FP1 in Mexico and Abu Dhabi as well he can get two more bonus points in those appearances if he completes 100km each time without earning any licence penalty points.
Sargeant should be eligible for two more bonus points for completing the entire 2021 F3 season without receiving any licence penalty points and if he has an incident-free Abu Dhabi weekend in F2 he will score another two bonus points for a clean driving record in F2 this season.
This could take Sargeant to as many as 34 superlicence points, making an eighth place finish in F2 enough to reach the 40-point threshold to qualify for a superlicence.
“I think we want to make the risk as minimal as possible,” said Capito of the Sargeant FP1 plan.
“And on the other side, we want to prepare Logan as well as possible for next season. That means he has to maximise the time in the car this year.
“This is why we give him three FP1s. And it gives him additional superlicence points – they’re for sure not hurting.
“Then he will also do the young driver test after Abu Dhabi.
“So it’s part of the preparation now to get Logan in the best possible position for the beginning of next season.”
