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What next for Logan Sargeant? Three ways to resurrect his motorsport career after Williams axe
By Elizabeth Blackstock,
10 hours ago
Logan Sargeant's F1 career is over with Williams. What's next?
It’s official: Logan Sargeant has lost his Williams F1 ride. The team announced the American’s departure on Tuesday after a disastrous Dutch Grand Prix.
Sargeant will be replaced at Williams by rookie Franco Colapinto for the remainder of the F1 2024 season. But what’s next for Logan Sargeant ?
Logan Sargeant as Williams reserve driver
Williams Racing has confirmed that Logan Sargeant “will remain a member of the Williams family” and that the outfit “will be supporting him to continue his racing career.”
That’s a vague statement that could mean several different things at once. It could mean Williams is retaining Sargeant as a reserve, test, or simulator driver. It could imply that Williams will help Sargeant to find a seat in a different race series.
However, it could also imply that Williams won’t let any preexisting contracts stand in Sargeant’s way if he were to find a ride for himself. The team may be following the “if you love them, let them go” mentality.
Still, the most likely option for Sargeant during the remainder of 2024 is to remain with Williams in some capacity, as he has experience with the team’s current machinery. After the end of the season, however, it would not be surprising to see Williams and Sargeant part ways.
Logan Sargeant to IndyCar
Logan Sargeant has already been rumored to be heading to IndyCar for 2025, when the incoming PREMA team will field a two-car entry in the American open-wheel program.
Sargeant has preexisting ties with PREMA. In 2020, he joined the team in Formula 3, where he secured an impressive third-place overall in the drivers’ championship.
That one year of experience doesn’t guarantee Sargeant an in with PREMA, but having ties with the team would only help get conversations started — and according to many sources, PREMA has already been in conversation with Sargeant.
Initial talks, of course, don’t always translate to a guaranteed drive; after all, just look at how many F1 teams Carlos Sainz spoke with before eventually deciding on a ride with Williams. But it would be a smart and simple choice for Sargeant should he be interested in continuing his career.
The only issue with IndyCar is that a move to the American series usually ends up discounting drivers from making a Formula 1 return. At 23 years of age, Sargeant still has time to display his skillset elsewhere — and Super Formula may be a great place to do that.
The Japanese open-wheel championship is the second-fastest racing series in the world after Formula 1, and Super Formula cars are often thought to be closer to F1 machinery than even Formula 2 cars. It would keep Sargeant racing at a high level, and keep him on the F1 radar.
Super Formula also has the benefit of keeping Sargeant a little further away from the eyes of Western media — giving him a chance at rehabilitating his reputation before he attempts racing in something like F1 or IndyCar.
Logan Sargeant back to the drawing board
Logan Sargeant isn’t the only member of his immediate family to have pursued a career in motorsport. His older brother Dalton competed alongside Logan in the international karting sphere — but where Logan remained in Europe, Dalton headed back to the United States to compete in stock car racing.
Though Dalton Sargeant did manage to secure 2016’s ARCA Rookie of the Year honors, he struggled to see success as he moved up the ladder. He competed in a handful of NASCAR Truck Series events before Sargeant disappeared from the racing scene due to “unfortunate circumstances.”
Now, at age 26, Dalton Sargeant has retired from motorsport and instead works in press relations in Florida.
Logan Sargeant progressed further up the ladder than his older brother, so it’s possible he may still pursue a fruitful career in motorsport. But we don’t quite know all the factors that led to Dalton Sargeant’s motorsport retirement after he stopped racing partway through 2018. However, some fans have linked Dalton Sargeant’s racing disappearance with financial trouble in the Sargeant family.
If that was true, then it’s almost certain the family’s financial fortunes have shifted over the last six years. The Sargeants may have the ability to support Sargeant’s career in another discipline. They may also encourage Logan, like his brother, to consider a different kind of career.
It wouldn’t be the first time a well-off driver abandoned motorsport after being dropped by Williams. Nicolas Latifi, for example, decided his skillset was better served going to business school after his F1 career was over. Perhaps we could see a similar pivot from Sargeant.
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