Logan Sargeant has officially signed up with Williams as a driver for the F1 in 2023 following his fourth-place finish in the F2 standings.
In order to compete for Williams in Formula 1, Logan Sargeant had to obtain the Super License, and when he makes his debut the following year, he will be the first American on the starting grid since 2015.
To be eligible for an F1 Super License, Sargeant had to place at least sixth in the Formula 2 season standings. Williams had previously stated that the Florida-born driver would be given the seat for 2023 provided he completed the qualifications and had given him practice time during F1 sessions to assist him to do so.
During the United States Grand Prix weekend, it was revealed that the American will be Alex Albon’s teammate in 2023, but it was noted that he still needed to accumulate the necessary points to obtain his FIA super licence.
The fact that he finished fourth in the standings at the end of the season was confirmed by a drive to fifth in Sunday’s main race in Abu Dhabi, which followed two strong performances there.
This result alone generated 30 points, which he added to his total to bring him comfortably over the required 40 points for the license.
During the race, Jack Doohan, one of the competitors who may have surpassed Sargeant in the standings, came into the pits from the front and broke a wheel on the pit exit. Ayumu Iwasa of Japan won the race on Sunday, beating Felipe Drugovich, an Aston Martin F1 reserve and the F2 champion.
Williams ran Sargeant in free practice sessions in the US, Brazil, and Abu Dhabi that each added a point to his cause in an effort to lessen the driver’s workload.
“Thank you all for your hard work and efforts this year,” Sargeant said to his team. “We were damn quick, so thank you for everything.”
Sargeant replaces Canadian Nicholas Latifi, who held the racing seat at Williams this year. Alex Albon, a Thai driver born in Britain, will be his teammate.
Alexander Rossi, a recent F1 starter for the now-defunct Manor Marussia team, was the last American driver to compete in the sport. Since then, F1 has become increasingly well-liked in the US as a result of a new audience that the documentary series “Drive to Survive” on Netflix attracted the viewers.
As Las Vegas joins previous events in Miami and Austin, Texas, the United States will host three of the 24 races on the schedule for the upcoming season.
Colton Herta, a prominent American from the IndyCar series, was another candidate for an F1 position with the AlphaTauri team in 2023 but was turned down for a license.
The eligibility criteria favor FIA-sanctioned series like F2 over other series like IndyCar. Among those who backed Herta, Rossi asserted that it was evident the man possessed the skills necessary to compete in Formula 1.
