Formula 1: Another rookie finds himself on the hot seat

Logan Sargeant is one of three rookies in Formula 1 this season, and he could be the second one out of a seat for the 2024 campaign.

Logan Sargeant’s arrival at Formula 1 with Williams was highly praised, as it made him the first American driver in the sport since 2015. However, his performance throughout the 2023 season has not been up to par. He has not yet scored a point.

Since the start of the season, there has been progress in Sargeant’s driving capabilities, highlighted by a first Q3 appearance in Zandvoort this past weekend. But despite the promising highs the 22-year-old has shown, there have been plenty more lows on his record.

The rookie has not necessarily had the level of car control that Williams had hoped for. He has crashed several times throughout the season, and many of those crashes were due to his own errors.

Two of those errors completely ruined what was a promising weekend in the Netherlands with two crashes. He crashed out of Q3 and then during the Dutch Grand Prix itself.

Logan Sargeant’s contract is set to expire at the end of the 2023 Formula 1 season. Should Williams bring the American back to the team in 2024?

The only other scoreless full-time driver in 2023, rookie Nyck de Vries, has already lost his AlphaTauri ride for the remainder of the season.

Williams have made some serious progress this year, with evidence of that shown in Alex Albon’s consistent performances throughout multiple recent race weekends.

These poor outings from Sargeant have cost Williams some crucial points in their battle for seventh place in the constructor standings, and they have also cost the Grove-based team a large sum of money in repeated car repairs.

As a result, the rookie may not fit the upward trajectory on which Williams currently find themselves. While they do currently sit in seventh place in the standings following Albon’s eighth place finish at Zandvoort, the team will ideally be looking to move up the standings in future seasons. Unfortunately, that won’t be easy with Sargeant in the second car.

Logan Sargeant simply might not be the driver Williams need going forward. He very well could end up on another team next season, either in a full-time or reserve role. But developing into a better driver may take more time. Unfortunately, his performances this season do not warrant a contract extension.