Just like last season, Logan Sargeant has faced the threat of losing his seat at Williams, courtesy of his struggling performances in 2024. Naturally, team boss James Vowles is not happy with Sargeant’s performances which have been way off Alex Albon’s benchmark. Now, Vowles has hinted that they may want to decide on the American’s future but also accepts that part of his failures has been due to the Williams car’s shortcomings.
Vowles is hinting at replacing the American driver for 2025 and beyond if his performances don’t improve. Speaking with Sky Sports (as quoted by F1), Vowles stated,
“Logan all the way through has been provided [with] the opportunity to retain his seat – that’s in his control. I need performance that’s at Alex’s level, I need him to be there day in and day out, fundamentally.”
Sargeant’s F1 seat has been under threat even more with Kimi Antonelli emerging as a surprise contender to stake a claim for an F1 seat. To top it up, the FIA also changed its minimum driver age regulations which could allow for an early F1 debut for the 17-year-old Mercedes prodigy.
❗️ Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant will have the same-spec Williams this weekend for the first time in months, with Sargeant receiving the lighter floor.
Sargeant’s #F1 future is in serious doubt but Albon was quick to praise him: pic.twitter.com/V6snShe25g
— The Race (@wearetherace) June 20, 2024
Rumors suggested that Antonelli would debut for Williams before making the jump to Mercedes, as the latter wanted him to gain some experience before replacing Lewis Hamilton in 2025. However, nothing has come of these reports and Sargeant is looking set to continue racing at the Grove-based outfit for the rest of this season.
Vowles also highlighted that Williams has often faltered in giving Sargeant a good reliable car and even took his challenger away in Australia after Albon crashed his chassis. But Vowles mentioned that hasn’t been the case for “several races” now.
While the former Mercedes engineer mentioned that deciding on Sargeant’s future is important, that is not his priority.
Vowles knows Williams needs to improve its car apart from the driver lineup
Williams has been making ambitious noises about climbing up the grid in terms of performance even though they have lost ground in 2024. On top of that, they have had a few tough races where they did not have a spare chassis due to extensive damage to Albon’s car in Australia.
As mentioned earlier, this affected Logan Sargeant as he could not race with Abon taking over his car. In subsequent races too, Williams struggled with reliability, with neither driver being able to fight for points.
However, Vowles stated that when the car was there, he expected Sargeant to deliver and be right up there alongside Albon. He said, “He [Sargeant] knows that he wants to perform, he wants to be there, and I want to give him every opportunity he can.”
As things stand, Sargeant is not making a complete mess of himself, bringing in some decent results. However, the Fort-Lauderdale-born is yet to open his account with Albon scoring all of the points for Williams so far this campaign. He has a lot to prove if he wants to retain his seat for 2025.
