Sargeant’s struggles made American’s F1 exit inevitable

As harsh as Logan Sargeant‘s axe from Williams might seem, there were signs it was coming. Since the opening few races of the season, there had been speculation about the 23-year-old American being replaced, and at no point was it denied by Williams team principal James Vowles.

The decision made early in the year to pursue Carlos Sainz as Sargeant’s replacement for next season meant the Floridian’s time at the team was ticking down fast. Even if the chase for Sainz proved fruitless (Williams signed the Ferrari driver last month), it seemed unlikely that Sargeant was a serious contender for 2025.

This too should have come as no surprise as his inclusion in the team’s driver lineup for 2024 was far from convincing. Sargeant had to wait until five days after the final round in Abu Dhabi last year for confirmation of his second season in Formula One, while the rest of the grid had long been locked in.

When the deal was signed in December 2023, there was a genuine hope within Williams that a second season would help unlock more of the raw performance the team had seen from Sargeant in his junior career, while curbing his tendency to push the car beyond its limits and toward the scene of an accident. The target was simple: score more points (he scored one in 2023) and crash less often (the repair bill for his side of the garage had been in multiples of millions of dollars).

Yet as early as the Australian Grand Prix this year, it was clear the team lacked confidence in the American’s performance. When, during a practice session, teammate Alex Albon crashed and damaged one of the two Williams FW46s in existence beyond repair, it was Sargeant who was told to step out of his car so that Albon could race the rest of the weekend.

The team openly took the blame for arriving at the third round of the season without a spare chassis in its freight, but the decision to swap Albon into Sargeant’s car told you everything you needed to know about Williams’ faith in Sargeant’s ability to score points.

The timing of Sargeant’s first big accident of 2024 couldn’t have been much worse. Back in the car after the awkward situation in Australia, he crashed during FP1 at the next round in Japan after letting the car run wide at the high-speed Dunlop corner and losing control as he ran onto the grass.

“I put the car into a place I didn’t…