It’s shaping up to be a good weekend to be an American Formula 1 fan. We don’t get many of those.
Fresh off Max Verstappen‘s taking of the World Drivers’ Championship in Suzuka last time out, the circus has now come Stateside to contest the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), which opened 10 years and one day ago on Oct. 21, 2012.
Designed by architectural veteran Hermann Tilke, COTA has hosted the United States Grand Prix since 2012, with only one interruption related to COVID-19 in 2020. Winners at the circuit include Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas. Even as the first stop on now-two-time champion Verstappen’s victory tour, attention at and leading up to COTA has been focused in large part on the Williams team; in particular, their soon-to-be-vacant second race seat.
Logan Sargeant Makes FP1 Debut
For the first time since Alexander Rossi crossed under the checkered flag in the 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix, an American driver has taken part in an F1 race weekend.
Logan Sargeant, a Williams Academy driver who first tested F1 machinery at the 2021 post-season test in Abu Dhabi, turned 23 laps in the first free practice session for Williams in place of Nicholas Latifi. This debut on home soil – which went down without a hitch – comes the day before Williams is expected to announce a replacement for Latifi, as the Canadian is set to depart the team at the end of the 2022 season. Sargeant finished the session in 19th place, 3.468 seconds of the pace of leader Carlos Sainz.
Sargeant’s practice debut coming in his home country of all place’s makes the timing of this announcement seem almost too telling, though the American prospect still has to earn his way to the FIA Super License required to compete in F1. Should he fail to do so, Mick Schumacher and Antonio Giovinazzi have also been linked to a Haas seat next year. Schumacher has driven for Haas since 2021, while Giovinazzi contested FP1 for the American team, crashing out of the session early on.
Sargeant currently sits third in the F2 Drivers’ standings, with two wins to his name this season.
Sargeant was not the only guest to participate in the first practice on Friday. 2021 NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou also contested FP1 for McLaren, while Ferrari test driver Robert Shwartzman took the reigns for the Scuderia and Theo Pourchaire stepped into Alfa Romeo machinery.
Unfinished Business in…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Frontstretch…