Yahoo Autos Williams Will Hire American Logan Sargeant, Pending Super License
Williams team boss Joss Capito has confirmed to RACER that American Formula 2 Driver Logan Sargeant will race with the team in 2022, pending a strong enough finish in the year's final Formula 2 race to secure Sargeant a super license. The deal would make Sargeant the first full-time American Formula 1 driver to start a season since Scott Speed left Scuderia Toro Rosso and the first American-licensed Formula 1 driver of any sort since Alexander Rossi's short stint at Marussia ended after the 2015 season.
While Sargeant had been in the frame for a potential ride with Williams since the team's shot at Nyck de Vries disappeared last month, the confirmation suggests that Sargeant is the preferred outcome over any veteran driver signing for the team rather than merely an option. His jump up to Formula 1 is still a relative surprise, as this year's Formula 2 class is considered particularly weak and its runaway champion, Felipe Drugovich, attracted no interest whatsoever from F1 teams. Drugovich, whose 241 points this season are nearly double the 135 scored by Sargeant, will instead spend the year as a practice driver for Aston Martin.
Sargeant has not been a particularly notable prospect at any point in his career, although 2022 was by far his best career season in a racing car. His first three seasons in Europe came in Formula 3, where he won just three times and fell from a career-best championship finish of third in 2020 to a disappointing seventh in 2021. His move up to Formula 2 has gone far better, with Sargeant scoring two wins and currently sitting third in the championship.
He still needs to finish the season strong to actually secure his license, though. With today's successful Formula 1 practice session at Circuit of the Americas and completion of the two more scheduled later in the year, he'll need a finish of sixth in the championship or better to secure his title. He is third in the championship today, but he sits just 12 points clear of the seventh-place cutoff with 35 points left to award this season. Effectively, he'll need to score a few points in at least the weekend's feature race without being significantly outscored by all four drivers between him and a potentially career-derailing seventh-place finish in the series.
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