Williams boss drops Sargeant future hint in radio message after Italian GP

Rookie F1 driver Logan Sargeant is one of four to not register a championship point this season but the American’s performances in a Williams are trending upwards. The second seat at Williams hasn’t been confirmed as reserved for Sargeant for 2024 but team principal James Vowles has dropped a big hint that the 22-year-old could be suiting up in F1 again next season.

Sargeant crossed the line in 11th at Monza but was pushed down to P13 after being handed a time penalty for his role in a collision in the dying laps. Had Sargeant kept his nose clean and kept his place behind Valtteri Bottas, it would have been his joint-best finish in the 2023 campaign but one shy of a first F1 championship point.

“Well done Logan tough fight there today you held your own for a long long period of time,” Williams chief James Vowles told Sargeant after the conclusion of Monza. “That point with your name is still out there.”

Vowles’ comments come as no surprise. In August, he told the Mirror: “My plan A is investing in Logan and making sure we get the absolute most out of him. We keep forgetting that these guys and girls are in their young 20s. That’s it. They’re composed, educated individuals who know they are going to have to deliver.

“In Logan’s case, he knows this is a meritocracy and he knows he needs to perform. But there’s a no-blame culture. If you take someone and say, ‘You’re not doing a good enough job’, what happens? It doesn’t particularly help the situation. What he needs to know is that he has tremendous potential in him and he knows that. He knows that we tried to accelerate his journey into the sport one year too early, but it was the right decision at the time.

“What he needs now is an environment where he’s able to take all that learning and use it to good effect, not worry about issues or mistakes but learning to build on them week in, week out. And that’s the environment we’re creating around him at the moment. It will take time.

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“This is by far the hardest year for rookies by a long way. We don’t have ‘normal race weekends’ anymore… Something is always changing so dynamically, you don’t know what’s going on.

“But he’s dealing with it with maturity and he knows that I have his back and we’re here to support him. Let’s find the journey that pushes him up the grid because that’s what I want for him as well.”

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Williams’ car has significantly improved in recent weeks with No. 1 driver Alex Albon leading the points charge for the team. It even has more straight-line speed than McLaren and many of their other rivals. Albon started in fourth at Zandvoort and crossed the line in eighth. He then started in sixth in Monza and finished seventh in another successful afternoon of racing.

F1 will head to Singapore in two weeks, followed by Japan, as three-peat-chasing Max Verstappen continues to dominate the field. The Dutchman broke Sebastian Vettel’s consecutive wins record of nine with a comfortable win at the home GP of Ferrari.

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