Logan Sargeant benched by Williams for remainder of F1 season

27/08/2024 17:00

Williams Team Principal James Vowles has seen enough

Logan Sargeant's time in Formula 1 seems to have come to an end.

The American driver scored a single point in his first F1 season and was retained by Williams Team Principal James Vowles for the 2024 season. This decision came as somewhat of a surprise, given Sargeant's struggles a year ago and Williams' designs on a move further up the grid.

However, Vowles' patient decision has yet to translate into success on the track for Sargeant. While the Williams boss continues to maintain that Sargeant has shown signs of improvement this season, and there are indications that he has narrowed the gap to teammate Alexander Albon, he has yet to finish in the points this season. With Williams having already decided to sign Carlos Sainz Jr. for next season, Sargeant's time with Williams was already coming to an end.

But now, the team is making a switch midseason. Williams junior driver Franco Colapinto has been tapped to finish the season for Williams. Colapinto currently drives for MP Motorsport in F2 and sits sixth in that Drivers' Championship. He enjoyed his first taste of an F1 weekend back at the 2024 British Grand Prix when he drove in FP1 in place of Sargeant. Colapinto also participated in the team's post-season testing session at Yas Marina following the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

As for Sargeant, the final straw with Vowles appears to be his crash in FP3 at last weekend's Dutch Grand Prix. After Williams brought several upgrades to Zandvoort, Sargeant's crash prevented him from participating in qualifying and put the team behind the proverbial eight ball regarding those upgrades.