Williams rookie Logan Sargeant says he feels no extra pressure being the first American driver to race in Formula 1 since 2015, insisting "hard work" - not his nationality - earned him his spot on the grid.
There's clearly a healthy appetite for Formula 1 in the United States, with the country hosting three races this year, in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas.
But historically, America has only delivered two F1 World Champions – Phil Hill and Mario Andretti – and five race winners: Hill and Andretti of course, plus Dan Gurney, Richie Ginther and Peter Revson.
The last American driver to race in F1 was IndyCar star Alexander Rossi who started five races with Manor in 2015 while Scott Speed was the last US driver to compete full-time in the sport in 2007.
It's a disappointing track record for a country that, on the other hand, has seen so many American companies supply their innovative engineering expertise to F1, a presence that often proved decisive in sustaining Grand Prix racing's healthy continuity.
Logan Sargeant, who earned his promotion to F1 after just a single season in F2, is therefore set to pick up a heavy baton. But the young 21-year-old charger has no inhibitions about flying the American flag in F1.
"I feel like, at the end of the day, I’ve put in as much hard work as anyone else to reach this point," he said, quoted by Formula1.com.
"I just have to look at it as, ‘prepare the best I possibly can to be the best driver I can possibly be’.
"Hopefully I can represent [the country] well and make them proud. I don’t think it’s any extra pressure, to be honest. I have high expectations for myself as it is."
Williams may have a lot to gain from a marketing perspective by fielding an American driver and tapping into the biggest market in the world. But again, Sargeant believes his nationality was a secondary consideration when his name came up as Nicholas Latifi's replacement for 2023.
"I’d like to think it’s just a happy coincidence," he added. "As I said, I’ve put in the hard work over the past however many years, making a commitment to move to Europe when I was young to make this dream a reality.
"I feel like I’ve had a very good junior formula career. I’m just looking forward to closing that chapter and moving on to the next."
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