The deflated Sargeant defiance amid more mid-season Williams seat threat

As a second threat to his position at Williams emerged mid-way through the 2024 Formula 1 season, Logan Sargeant spelled out his impossible position at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The American driver faced the media ahead of this weekend’s race at Budapest, where rumours that Williams wished to possibly replace him with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon that first surfaced over the Silverstone weekend began to crystallise.

Reports emerged this week that Williams had gone as far as sounding out the possibility of Ocon transferring over from Alpine to replace Sargeant for the remainder of what is to be the Frenchman’s final season with the Enstone squad.

Ocon was apparently receptive to the idea, which would have had Alpine reserve driver, Jack Doohan, step up to make his F1 debut, but the plan was reportedly blocked by Alpine team principal Bruno Famin, who felt his squad could not afford to strengthen a direct rival.

This all followed Williams team boss James Vowles opting not to shut down a line of questioning on the current Alex Albon-Sargeant pairing remaining in place to 2024’s end at Silverstone.

That in itself was two months on from suggestions at the Miami round that Andrea Kimi Antonelli could possibly be a candidate to replace Sargeant at Williams mid-season.

“We’re continually evaluating it,” Vowles said. “What we’ve said to Logan is it’s a meritocracy. You have to make sure you earn your place in the sport continuously. That’s been the same message that has been for 18 months really for him. And we are open-minded to things.”

After this, Sargeant had vowed to “fight to the end”, as he registered by far his best result of 2024 so far – 11th in the British GP. This was also his top on-the-road F1 result overall – he finished 12th at Austin in 2023 before disqualifications ahead elevated him to his sole F1 point so far.

Considering his current form and whether the final two races before the summer break were important to securing his position in Hungary, Sargeant replied: “It is what it is. I feel like I’ve been driving well throughout the year. I’m biding my time to really get the opportunity. I think I’ve been driving well and I’m happy with what I’ve been doing. So I’ll just try and keep that up.”

All words to be expected. But it was striking just how deflated – resigned even – Sargeant seemed compared to the confident, exuberant personality that first greeted…