Logan Sargeant, the only American driver in Formula 1, was dismissed by Williams on Tuesday and will be replaced by Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto starting this weekend at the Italian Grand Prix.
Sargeant leaves F1 with just one point from 36 race starts since he joined Williams at the beginning of the 2023 season. His best result this season was 11th place. Williams had set clear performance targets for him to keep his seat for the rest of the season.
Last week at the Dutch Grand Prix, Sargeant had a serious crash during practice and finished 16th in the race.
“Replacing a driver mid-season is not a decision we have taken lightly, but we believe this gives Williams the best chance to compete for points over the remainder of the season,” team principal James Vowles said in a statement.
“We have just brought a large upgrade to the car and need to maximize every points-scoring opportunity in a remarkably tight midfield battle.”
Vowles recognized that the decision would be “incredibly tough” on Sargeant, who was already set to be replaced for next season as Carlos Sainz Jr. moves from Ferrari to Williams to team up with Alex Albon for 2025. There are nine races left this season, including two in the United States.
“I know firsthand how brutal this sport can be & it’s tough to see Logan leave the team mid-season,” Albon posted on social media. “You gave it your all brother and it’s been a pleasure being teammates with you. I know whatever you’ll do next, you’ll be awesome.”
Sargeant has not yet commented publicly on his departure.
There has been speculation that Sargeant, from Florida, might move to IndyCar, possibly with Prema Racing, which will enter the series next season with two cars.
The 21-year-old Colapinto, currently sixth in the F2 standings, becomes the first driver from Argentina to race in F1 since Gaston Mazzacane in 2001. This ends a long wait for Argentina, a country with a proud history in F1, including the five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio from the 1950s.
“Coming into F1 mid-season will be an enormous learning curve but I am up for the challenge, and I’m fully focused on working as hard as I can with Alex and the team to make it a success,” said Colapinto, who drove one practice session for Williams at the British Grand Prix last month using Sargeant’s car.
Sargeant started in F1 at the beginning of last year as the first U.S. driver in the series since 2015. He had finished fourth in F2 in 2022 but had a hard time competing in F1 against his more experienced teammate Albon.
The best moment of Sargeant’s F1 career happened at the United States Grand Prix last year when he earned his only career point by finishing 10th. This was only after two cars ahead of him were disqualified for technical issues.
It made Sargeant the first American driver to score a point in F1 since Michael Andretti 30 years earlier.
However, this was not the breakthrough Williams had hoped for, and Sargeant often finished far behind Albon in both qualifying and races this year.
In March, the team made the unusual decision to bench Sargeant and let Albon drive his car at the Australian Grand Prix after Albon’s own car was damaged in a practice crash. At that time, Vowles praised Sargeant as “a true team player,” but the move showed the team’s lack of confidence in his ability to score points.
“This is undoubtedly incredibly tough on Logan, who has given his all throughout his time with Williams, and we want to thank him for all his hard work and positive attitude,” Vowles said Tuesday after Sargeant was replaced. “Logan remains a talented driver and we will support him to continue his racing career for the future.”
