America’s only representative in the Formula 1 field is gone nine races early. Williams Racing announced today that Logan Sargeant will no longer race for the team, effective immediately. The British Formula 1 team already announced that Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz would replace the 23-year-old American for the 2025 season. James Vowles, Williams team principal and desperate GM suitor, dropped Sargeant for Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto to better the team’s prospects in the championship standings.
Sargeant just came off a terrible weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort. During the third free practice session on Saturday, he heavily crashed his car in wet conditions. The crash didn’t compromise the Williams chassis. Mechanics could repair the car, but not in time for Sargeant to compete in qualifying. The American lined up 18th on the grid and converted it to a 16th-place finish, meaning no points.
Zandvoort is reasonably representative of Sargent’s season as a whole. All four of Williams’ points were scored by his teammate Alexander Albon. While Sargeant did outperform Albon in rare moments, it never amounted to anything substantive. Yes, Williams favored the Thai driver. The team controversially forced Sargeant to give up his car in Australia earlier this year after Albon had written his car off in practice. However, the team put that driver pecking order in place based on the data they were seeing. Vowles said in a statement:
“To replace 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. We have just brought a large upgrade to the car and need to maximize every points-scoring opportunity in a remarkably tight midfield battle.”
Franco Colapinto has shown he’s a more-than-capable driver in F2 and F3, but I don’t see how this nine-race stint benefits him in the long term. Williams is set on Sainz and Albon being their line-up for multiple years. While no sane driver would ever turn down an F1 debut, the Williams Academy driver will have to be spectacular in underwhelming machinery to attract the attention of other teams for a potential contract to prolong his F1 career.
It’s not impossible for Colapinto. Oliver Bearman turned an impressive substitute debut with Ferrari in Saudi Arabia into a 2025 contract with Haas. While the young Argentine driver will likely garner a lot of support during his time at Williams, the team is guaranteed to draw the ire of many American fans, especially when F1 rolls into Austin and Las Vegas later this season.
