Sargeant still in the dark regarding 2024 Williams seat

Logan Sargeant says he still doesn’t know if he’ll be retained by Williams in 2024, but the young American is optimistic about his chances.

Sargeant was promoted to F1 this season after a full year in the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2022, having finished fourth in the competitive feeder series.

But it’s been a difficult rookie campaign for the 23-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who has scored but a single point so far, and it was one that he inherited in Austin when he was bumped up from P11 to P10 thanks to Charles Leclerc’s disqualification.

Sargeant’s track record has suffered from a lack of consistency and several costly crashes. But his progress in recent races has also been noteworthy.

In Las Vegas last weekend, Sargeant qualified an excellent seventh, just one spot behind his Williams teammate Alex Albon.

But a challenging one-stop strategy and tyre graining set him back to P16 in the Saturday night race.

Read also:

Albon: Sargeant not getting ‘the credit that he deserves’

Williams boss James Vowles has publicly expressed his support for Sargeant’s efforts. But that doesn’t mean that he will be considered worthy of a second season among motorsport’s elite.

"It's a good question – honestly, I don't know,” he said, when asked about his future with the team on the eve of the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

"But for me it's just a case of taking it race by race. I feel like, from a driving point of view, everything has been getting much better in the past I don't know however many rounds.

"I'm just trying to do my job to the best I can. And I think with how it's been going recently, I don't see any issues."

Looking back on his rookie campaign, Sargeant unsurprisingly singled out his strong qualifying performance in Vegas as the high point of his season.

"I able to finally put it together over three qualifying sessions,” he said. "[That] was really nice.

“Helped by the fact that we had a quick car in Vegas, for sure. But that was definitely very much the highlight."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.