Even though American driver Logan Sargeant has an uncle that has a net worth of a whopping $3,000,000,000, he still had to face several hurdles to get to Formula 1. And that is primarily because F1 is a European sport. Hence, not only was geography a barrier to entry for the American, but also cost.
Although most Americans choose NASCAR, Sargeant wanted more of a challenge. Hence, he decided to move to Europe at a very young age. While it was all going well for the 22-year-old, he faced a major hurdle at the end of the 2019 season. And that was because he did not have the finances to compete.
Speaking of the same, he told the Athletic in an interview, “I pretty much had nothing at the end of that year (2020). An F3 season is nearly a million dollars a year, while F2 in a competitive seat is around the $2 million mark“.
Since F2 is so expensive, for many drivers racing in this competition is not even an option. As for Sargeant, since he did not have the money to compete in F2, he completely “switched off” at the end of the 2020 season and returned home with all his dreams shattered.
It was only when an unexpected call came ahead of the 2021 season that made him dream again. Three weeks before the new season began, he was offered another drive to compete in F3. While Sargeant was initially against the idea, he ended up taking it as he had no other alternative.
Logan Sargeant began dreaming again after returning to F3
Logan Sargeant, who despite having an uncle whose net worth is a staggering $3,000,000,000, had to struggle for funds to compete in F2. Since Sargeant’s father did not have what it took to fund his son’s F2 career, the 22-year-old began looking at alternatives such as IndyCar.
That was at least until he got the unexpected call to compete in F3. When Sargeant began competing in F3 for the second season in 2021, several F1 teams had their eyes on him.
Among the many teams, one of them was Mercedes. The Silver Arrows were so impressed with Sargeant that they even signed the 22-year-old to carry out two days of simulation evaluation for them.
And with Sargeant having impressed current Williams team principal James Vowles, who was at Mercedes at the time, the American remained closely watched. With Sargeant continuing to impress in the 2021 F3 season, Williams decided to eventually fund Sargeant’s F2 career in 2022.
And Sargeant did not disappoint Williams. The American finished fourth in the championship and also recorded two wins. And as Sargeant continued to impress, former Williams team principal Josh Capito eventually announced during the 2022 United States Grand Prix that the 22-year-old would be a part of their line-up in the 2023 season.
Mercedes could not sign Sargeant because of their star driver pairing
The report from The Athletic also adds that Mercedes unfortunately could not sign Logan Sargeant because of the star driver pairing they had. The Silver Arrows had seven-time Drivers’ Champion Lewis Hamilton and had also announced young star George Russell to the team for the 2022 season.
As for Sargeant, even though he was deemed to have so much promise that Mercedes were willing to sign him at one point, it is pertinent to note that he has struggled to carry over his form of the junior Formula categories into F1. This is because as things stand in the Drivers’ Championship, the American is currently last and has failed to score a point.
In comparison, his Williams teammate Alex Albon, has already scored seven points and is currently twelfth in the championship. Since Sargeant has had a disappointing start to his life in F1, he will now hope to improve in the upcoming races by scoring his first points for the team.
