Logan Hunter Sargeant, born December 31st 2000, is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and currently drives for the Williams F1 team, beginning his rookie season in 2023. In 2015 he became the first American to win an FIA Karting Championship since Lake Speed in 1978. Logan began his karting career in the United States in 2008 before moving to Europe in 2009. After competing in the Junior categories, Sargeant made his Formula 3 debut in 2019, staying in that category to develop his driving skills for three years, after some financial setbacks prevented him from moving on to Formula 2. At the 2021 United States Grand Prix, however, it was announced that he had joined the Williams Drivers Academy and he was able to compete in the last 2 races of the Formula 2 season. In 2022 he committed to racing full time in Formula 2, and in July of that year he won the feature race at Silverstone, becoming the first American driver to win a Formula 2 race. He went on to win again at the Red Bull Ring after the 2 drivers ahead of him were penalized. At the United States Grand Prix in 2022, Jost Capito, William’s team principal at the time, announced that Logan Sargeant would be driving for the Williams Formula One team alongside Alexander Albon for the 2023 World Championship, making him the first full-time American driver since Scott Speed in 2007.
Logan currently lives in London but loves to go back to Florida and get out on the water when he can. He says both of his parents have always been very supportive of his racing and that his dad has always had his back no matter the situation. He respects his father’s business mindset and the way he goes about doing what he needs to do with a certain amount of discipline. Logan’s older brother, Daniel Sargeant, is a former NASCAR driver who last competed in the Camping World Truck series, driving the number 25 Chevy Silverado for GMS Racing. With three Formula One races in the United States on the calendar now, Logan will have more home races than any other driver, but there will also be a lot of pressure to perform. The last American citizen to win a Formula One race was Mario Andretti in 1978 when he won the Dutch Grand Prix and the Drivers Championship, but Andretti was actually born in Italy and moved to the United States when he was 15. The last American born driver to win a race was Phil Hill, born in Miami, at the Italian Grand Prix in 1961. He also won the Drivers Championship that year.
Many have asked whether or not Logan Sargeant really deserves to be in Formula One. The answer is yes. Was it too soon? Maybe. Williams admits that their plan was to keep Sargeant in Formula 2 for another season and put Oscar Piastri, on loan from Alpine, in their car for 2023, but when Fernando Alonso abruptly announced his departure from Alpine it threw a monkey wrench into the plan. After a few rounds of musical chairs, Sargeant found that he was being promoted to the Williams seat ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, the nine-time Constructors World Champion Williams team, second only to Ferrari in terms of constructors championships, has been in poor form for several years in a row now, finishing last in the 2022 championship but improving to seventh in 2023. There’s no doubt that the conditions for Logan Sargeant’s rookie season in Formula One were challenging, but if he can find a way to compete alongside his teammate, Albon, and help Williams elevate their game, then there will be no denying that Sargeant was the right man for the job.