This Is How America Could Get Its Next Formula 1 Driver
Logan Sargeant in Free Practice 1 during the 2022 United States Grand Prix.Photo: Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images)
This year, Formula 1 has been close to securing an American driver for the first time since 2015, but countless issues have risen to the fore to keep that from happening. But over the United States Grand Prix weekend, Williams team principal Jost Capito confirmed that the team is fully prepared to sign Logan Sargeant alongside Alex Albon for 2023. He just needs a few more super license points.
Plenty of folks have become very familiar with F1’s super license system this year thanks to rumors about IndyCar driver Colton Herta becoming a top pick for the AlphaTauri team’s second seat. Essentially, a super license is a way for drivers to be recognized as capable of competing at the F1 level. You can read more about the requirements here, but to put it quite simply, Herta was nowhere near having enough points, largely due to the way IndyCar is weighted.
Sargeant, on the other hand, is extremely close to securing the necessary 40 points required for a super license. As it currently stands, Sargeant is third in the Formula 2 standings. If he remains there, he’ll secure a super license. He’ll secure a super license even if he finishes fifth in the standings. If he finishes sixth in F2, he’ll be two points short of a super license, but he can nab both of them by completing the race season without any penalty points.
“Yeah, we feel he’s ready to race. Under the condition that he has enough super license points after Abu Dhabi, he will be our second driver next year,” Capito said during the team principal press conference at the United States Grand Prix.
He continued, as per Formula 1:
“He’s had one season in F2, and I’m a fan of getting young drivers as quick through as possible into Formula 1 because the series below, the cars compare to Formula 1 cars… so get him in as quick as possible and find out if he’s capable of staying in Formula 1 for a long time, which we believe he is.
“And his first year in F2, and he won races, and he has been qualifying very strong all these years in his career — and we believe he’s absolutely ready to get into Formula 1.”
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Sargeant is currently 21 years old and has found a large amount of success in the junior formulae that lead to F1.
