Logan Sargeant did not have the ideal start to his F1 career. The only American driver on the current grid is failing to live up to the expectations and is still to score a point for his team. However, he led his team to have a far more pressing concern, where Williams might see hindrance, as per lastwordonaports.com, in their 2024 development due to Sargeant’s massive $3,906,000 worth of crash damages.
The American star began his rookie season quite cleanly unlike most of the ‘clumsy’ rookies who usually become a headache for the team instantly. However, his clean image is pretty much a past affair now.
I appreciate all the love and support for the team and myself this season. We are coming out strong in Spa this weekend 👊🏼💙 pic.twitter.com/ymADjPf7LT
— Logan Sargeant (@LoganSargeant) July 25, 2023
Sargeant leads the table for most damages that occurred in a season for the time being, and it is certainly not a very good sight for the British team. As James Vowles and Co. would want to bank on their 2023 challenger and develop for 2024, Sargeant’s ordeal has come as a hindrance.
Sargeant’s damages could cost Williams’ 2024 development
Given how the F1 teams need to operate under a strict budget cap, seeing Sargeant incur huge crash damages has not been a great sight for Vowles. Talking about this, the Williams boss said, as per lastwordonaports.com, “Under the cost cap, what you don’t want to be doing is overproducing parts.”
“We’ve had more attrition than expected, I think it’s fair to say. We have enough to deal with the incident today. [Sargeant’s crash in qualifying in Japan] But it means we’ll have to divert attention away from other items [for 2024] while producing more spare parts before the end of the year.”
The 22-year-old crashed in the recent race weekends in Zandvoort, Singapore, and most recently in Suzuka, adding to the financial misery of the team. A few more crashes and he would reach the $5 million milestone, which is five times his annual salary at Williams.
Williams’ target for 2024 with Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant
Despite charging Williams almost four times his annual salary and three percent of the total budget cap, Sargeant’s future is safe at the British team. Therefore, they must focus on Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon’s driver pairing for the 2024 F1 season.
However, this season’s extremely high crash damage would surely hit the Grove-based team even though Vowles has informed that they would no longer develop their 2023 car and invest the resources for 2024.
As Williams stands comfortably in P7, they would look to upgrade themselves from there. However, they will need Sargeant’s active participation with Albon and minimal damages from crashes.
