Did Logan Sargeant deserve to be axed mid-season?

Logan Sargeant will no longer race in F1 being replacd by Franco Colapinto for the remainder of the season.

Did Logan Sargeant deserve to be axed mid-season?

James Vowles and Logan Sargeant (images via IMAGO)

Williams has sacked Logan Sargeant with nine races to go in 2024. The Grove-based team has promoted its junior driver, Franco Colapinto to race for the remainder of the season. However, this might’ve been too harsh of a call on Sargeant.

Logan Sargeant made his F1 debut in 2023 as Williams signed him to replace Nicholas Latifi. The 23-year-old became the first American driver to race in F1 in almost a decade. As such, there were high expectations for Sargeant with Alex Albon as his teammate.

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Unfortunately, Sargeant could not bring in the desired results for the Grove-based squad and was usually behind Albon in terms of pace. Although, fans wonder if this was the right call, especially since the team is already replacing him with Carlos Sainz for the 2025 season.

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Logan Sargeant a victim of the brutal F1 paddock

Williams is firmly a back marker on the grid this year. The team has only scored four points, all courtesy of Alex Albon. Logan Sargeant has failed to deliver consistent results and has had too many incidents. The massive collision during Dutch GP practice was perhaps the final nail in the coffin for the American driver.

Logan Sargeant
Logan Sargeant (via IMAGO)

It seems that James Vowles ran out of patience after the race. Vowles had previously publicly supported the American driver on numerous occasions. It must be noted that he even forced Sargeant to give his car to Albon for the Australian GP earlier this year. However, Formula 1 is brutal and Williams had to make the tough call to replace the driver who was simply not performing.

Williams had multiple options to replace Sargeant, including Liam Lawson and Mick Schumacher. However, Vowles has decided to take a gamble of Colapinto. James Vowles wants to give a chance to Williams’ own driver instead of helping out a rival team’s prodigy.

This is a gamble as Franco Colapinto will race without having a single test session with the car. However, it seems that the Grove-based squad feels this risk is more worth taking than keeping Sargeant on the grid. Certainly, this is a harsh call on the American driver. However, Williams simply had no confidence left in Logan Sargeant to even finish the last nine races of the season.

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