Logan Sargeant’s time in F1 wasn’t marked by any spectacular achievements on the track, apart from his P10 finish in Austin, which made him the first American driver to score points since Michael Andretti in 1993. However, his American nationality also became a source of memes since many poked fun at the lack of usage of the metric system in his home country.
“What the f*ck is a kilometer” became a phrase famously associated with Sargeant. The former Williams driver came from a country where kilometers or km/h aren’t commonly used to measure distance or speed, relying instead on miles and mph.
Since America is one of the few nations in F1 that hasn’t adopted the metric system, his struggles on the track were humorously attributed to his supposed lack of understanding of it. Sadly, the meme was not that mainstream for very long since Sargeant got sacked by Williams midway into his second season in F1.
His performances were simply not up to the mark and he suffered way too many crashes, prompting the team to replace him with Franco Colapinto. Four months after being dropped, Sargeant was once asked about the kilometer jokes that circulated during his time on the F1 grid.
logan sargeant to make it to q3 only to end up in a wall he forgot what a kilometer was pic.twitter.com/3Wer4PVRzo
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) August 26, 2023
The Fort Lauderdale-born driver revealed that he was not only aware of the memes but also overwhelmed by how relentless the fans were. At the same time, he was always confused because the US is not the only country that uses miles per hour to measure speed.
“I see them. They don’t stop,” he admitted on the Track Limits podcast. “I know what it is, but I’ll just go with it. I have no idea… Guess it’s typical American. The British use miles per hour too.”
Regardless, Sargeant embraced the joke and has seemingly started owning it. It became a part of his identity and remained so until his final F1 race at the 2024 Dutch GP. The “What the f*ck is a kilometer” sign first appeared in 2023, Sargeant’s rookie year, and was introduced by an Italian fan.
The fan later took to Reddit to share the story behind their intention: “I have seen a lot of people liked my sign, and many wanted to know who I am. The next step is to have it signed by Logan. If anyone can help, I would really appreciate it.”
It would be a fitting recognition for the fan who started a meme that went so viral as it became one of the things Sargeant was most known for during his time in F1.
