F1 2024 struggler hit with ‘political wrangling and bother’ claim after ‘logical’ axe

The “political fuss” around Logan Sargeant has weighed heavily on the American driver’s mind, according to a leading F1 pundit.

Sargeant is searching for a seat on the F1 grid, or elsewhere, for 2025 as Williams recently confirmed the arrival of Carlos Sainz alongside Alex Albon following months of speculation about the uncontracted seat.

Tom Coronel: Logan Sargeant was in ‘negative spiral’

Having made his debut alongside Albon last year, Sargeant had an unspectacular first year in F1 in which the inexperienced rookie only showed occasional flashes of speed as Albon scored 27 of the team’s 28 points.

With expectations increasing for his second year with the team, having managed to secure an extension for 2024, Sargeant has been playing into the wind as his car frequently has not had the same latest specification as Albon’s – his position in the team was also made very clear early on when, at the Australian Grand Prix, he was forced to hand over his car to Albon after the British-Thai driver crashed his heavily during practice.

Knowing his seat has been up for grabs all year, Sargeant hasn’t made the step forward expected of him – something made all the more difficult by all the speculation and rumour, as well as the spotlight focused on his struggles.

Dutch racing driver and F1 analyst Tom Coronel offered his thoughts on how Sargeant has fared this year, saying the American driver has shown too little during his season and a half to warrant his seat.

“There is always a lot of political fuss and bother around Logan Sargeant and that breaks him down,” Coronel said in the Dutch publication Formule 1 Magazine.

“He has been driving Formula 1 at Williams for over a year and a half now and hasn’t really shown anything yet. And that’s too little, even for a team like Williams .

“He is not yet allowed to tie the laces of Alex Albon, his teammate. Sargeant has been weighed and found to be too light, far too light. That’s basically the whole story.”

Multiple crashes, such as in Japan, Canada, and Miami, have also contributed to the perception that Sargeant isn’t quite up to the task, says Coronel, who said the financial impact of the damage upon a smaller team like Williams will also be noticed.

“Sargeant is driving way too much damage,” he said.

“With that, you not only dupe yourself as a driver, but also your team. All those damages cost serious money, which you’d rather spend elsewhere.

“With all those damages, you automatically end up in a negative spiral from which it is difficult to escape. Sometimes I think: ‘What on earth are you doing?’ It is logical and right that Williams will say goodbye to him after this year and continue with Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon as their line-up.”

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Speaking to media, including PlanetF1.com , in Belgium, Sargeant said he’s hopeful of finding new opportunities and would be using the summer break to try making progress on securing his future.

“For sure, I’ll try and get a bit of direction. But, whether that amounts to anything, I’m not sure,” he said.

With 2024 seeing Williams as a whole struggling to score points with just four in 14 races, courtesy of Albon finishing ninth in Monaco and Great Britain, Sargeant said the car this year feels more “put together” than in ’23, but he’s still struggling to get pace out of it.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it feels the same,” he said, comparing the FW46 to its predecessor.

“I would think there were some very big changes in the car that changed a few of the biggest negative characteristics that we had in the car last year, which has kind of moved some of the negatives to other areas.

“But it’s definitely more put together than it was last year. But, clearly, we’re still missing pace. Ultimately, that’s the most important thing to find. So we still have our work to do.”

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