American Formula 2 rookie and Williams Racing Driver Academy member Logan Sargeant is looking to have a big year to help propel him towards his F1 dream. F1 Feeder Series exclusively spoke to the Carlin driver after Round 2 in Jeddah about his time with Williams so far, as well as his aims for 2022.

By Tyler Foster

During October last year, in the week building up to the United States Grand Prix, Sargeant joined the Williams Racing Driver Academy. After his strong season in Formula 3 with Charouz, there was a lot of positive speculation surrounding his future in motorsport. During this period, he had a test with Foyt lined up but it never actually materialised due to Sargeant joining Williams. We asked him just how close he was to joining IndyCar.

“I was pretty close, pretty close to be honest. To be fair a lot of it would have depended on that test that was soon to come. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to see what that car could do in the end because I was looking forward to it, but bigger and better things came along.”

Joining Williams

For any driver, a move to become a part of an F1 Driver Academy is one that could change the course of your life. We asked Sargeant just how big the Williams opportunity is for his career.

They’ve been super supportive honestly since day one, in literally every aspect you could think of

Logan Sargeant

“Well it’s massive. They’ve been super supportive honestly since day one, in literally every aspect you could think of. In terms of development on the simulator, development trackside, engineering, marketing, literally they tick every box. It just gives me a lot of confidence to do the best that I can and knowing that I have the support of them behind me as well.”

Window of opportunity

While Sargeant is now one of the most exciting prospects in motorsport, it wasn’t long ago that it seemed the American’s chances of even making it to F2 were slim due to financial problems. After a championship battle in his second year in F3 in 2020 with Prema, he had to watch as several of his rivals graduated to F2. Meanwhile, Sargeant only was able to compete in F3 for a third year, this time with Charouz.

“Honestly, at the start of 2021 there was pretty much nothing there. I felt I was probably going to just do some LMP2 races, probably a few GT races here and there and then the Charouz thing arose at the last minute and that sort of gave me a resurrection and another chance.”

Honestly, at the start of 2021 there was pretty much nothing there

Logan Sargeant

After signing with Charouz for 2021, Sargeant made his opportunity count. He finished seventh in the standings, with four podiums, including a victory in Sochi. This all with the Charouz team who prior to 2021, had never even scored a podium in Formula 3, let alone manage a win. We asked Sargeant how much of an achievement this was.

“Yeah, I’d say our 2021 season was particularly strong. Obviously for people seeing it on the outside, maybe they wouldn’t agree, but from the inside we were able to drive Charouz from being last in the championship all the way up to fifth and I was really the only one scoring points. We showed that we could really push that car forward and we made it have some potential.”

“It felt good because I felt at the start of the year, we weren’t super close to winning a race and then by the end we were just getting better and better, and then finally it happened. We did it in the last round, late, but at least we got it done.”

Graduating to F2

For this year, he has re-joined with Carlin, the same team he was with for his rookie season in Formula 3. We asked Sargeant just how this move to Carlin materialised.

“At the moment, there’s a good link there with Williams. That was sort of all put together when I initially joined Williams and in terms of re-joining the team, it sort of felt like reuniting with a bunch of people that I’ve already worked with and already knew very well. So yeah it’s all been very smooth and easy.”

It sort of felt like reuniting with a bunch of people that I’ve already worked with and already knew very well

Logan Sargeant

The Carlin team experienced a very successful pre-season testing in Bahrain. Sargeant stated that he felt “really comfortable in the car”, and that he felt like they “had a really quick car in both qualifying and race runs.” This is clearly the case, after his teammate Liam Lawson was able to achieve strong results in both of the opening two rounds. 

Sargeant vs Lawson

In terms of the relationship between Lawson and Sargeant, it goes beyond just being teammates.

“Me and Liam have been friends for about three years now. We know each other pretty well. It’s been a really good benchmark to compare myself against. Having a good teammate pushes me to be better and hopefully I’m pushing him to be as good as he can as well. That’s the goal. If we do that then that only helps the team as well.”

Circuits of interest

With there being 14 rounds within this year’s F2 calendar, there is plenty of opportunity to visit historic and unique circuits. We asked Sargeant which tracks he is looking forward to competing at.

“I love Silverstone for the most part, as well as Monaco which will be cool to go back to. Imola is the track that I’m looking forward to in terms of tracks that I haven’t been to.”

Homesick

Despite having raced in Europe for over five years, Sargeant still finds himself feeling homesick at times. He spoke to us about how tough he finds it even to this day. 

“Once you’ve been in Europe for quite a long stint, you’re like, I’d like to get home for a little bit, sort of recharge and see the family and friends again. I honestly feel like that’s always going to be the case. It’s just something that I’ve had to adapt to and I’ve figured out how to deal with it better.”

FP1 with Williams

Ultimately, the main goal and focus for Sargeant is to make his way to F1. Being a part of Williams certainly makes this goal much more attainable. There is still a long way to go however, and since Sargeant’s participation for Williams in the post-season young drivers’ test, the next step for him is to jump into the FW44 for an FP1 session at some point this year. He spoke about this possibility and how he is trying to achieve this.

After doing the post-season test [with Williams] last year, all I really want to do is get back in another one

Logan Sargeant

“That’s obviously the goal. Any chance to get in a Formula 1 car is an amazing opportunity. After doing the post-season test [with Williams] last year, all I really want to do is get back in another one. I’m just going to try to perform the best I can and hopefully that arises later in the year. I will be attending some F1 race weekends as well, when I’m not racing, to keep learning from that side.”

Future in F1

Further down the line, Sargeant wants to get that F1 seat with Williams. We asked whether he saw himself in F1 soon.

“It’s all performance based isn’t it. I don’t know. I’ve just got to focus on what I’m doing. Hopefully I can do a good enough job to see myself there in the next couple years. I have to perform on track and that’s all that matters.”

Header photo credit: Williams Racing