Sargeant admits ‘more testing’ should be available for rookies as he reflects on ‘tough’ F1 season

Logan Sargeant, a rookie Formula 1 driver in 2023, reflects on his season so far, giving his thoughts on what it’s like being a rookie. Sargeant has admitted it was “tough” coming into F1 and that he feels rookie drivers should be able to have “more testing” days. 

Logan Sargeant came into Formula 1 after his rookie season in Formula 2, where he finished fourth in the standings. In his final few races of F2, Sargeant had a run of bad form, retiring from at least one race each weekend.

But having impressed throughout the season as a whole, and being part of the Williams Academy, Sargeant was able to earn an F1 seat. He became the fourth American driver to compete in Formula 1 in the last 30 years.

So far in his rookie F1 season, Sargeant hasn’t scored any points. However, that doesn’t necessarily reflect his on-track performance. Whilst he did suffer some DNFs – Australia, Baku Sprint, Canada and Zandvoort – Sargeant has been able to drive competitively on track.

His best qualifying was P10 at Zandvoort, marking his first Q3 appearance. P11 is his best race result, which he achieved at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. But Sargeant has been able to hold his own against Alex Albon, his teammate, as the two have demonstrated the improvements the team’s upgrades have made.

Williams is no longer at the back of the grid. The British team is seventh in the Constructors’ Championship, 10 points ahead of Haas.

With 15 rounds of the calendar complete, Sargeant spoke to RaceFans about his season in F1 so far. The American driver admitted what it was like being a rookie of the sport.

‘It’s definitely tough’

Speaking to RaceFans, Sargeant did confess that coming into Formula 1 was “definitely tough”. Sargeant said:

“It’s definitely tough. I think it puts it in perspective when you’re up against 19 of the other best drivers – you know how fine the margins are.

“But it’s been amazing. I’ve enjoyed every time I got in the car. It’s definitely been special so far. I just want to try and do my best to close it out strong.”

Both drivers and the team battled hard this weekend and we come away with another six points! 👏 pic.twitter.com/HUza6mQQNn

— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) September 3, 2023

Sargeant continued, touching on the preparation rookie drivers have ahead of entering Formula 1. The Williams driver said he thinks it would be better if there were more opportunities of testing days. Explaining why, Sargeant said:

“You really get two-and-a-half days in the car before you go for it and only a day-and-a-half in the new car. So for sure it’s tough.

“I feel like there’s been times where I’ve been, I guess, catching up on missed experience, for sure. I only got a few test days in the off-season before coming into it, so I definitely lacked quite a lot of kilometres compared to some of the others who have come in.

“But at the end of the day, you’ve got to get in and handle it I guess, because once you’re here, you can’t really think about what you’ve missed.

“I think it could be better if there was more testing, especially for rookies. I think it would make quite a significant difference, to be honest.”

At the beginning of the year, Sargeant was one of three rookies. The other two were Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries. Piastri is still in F1, holding his own against Lando Norris and has scored a Sprint Race podium at Spa.

De Vries, however, was removed from AlphaTauri before the summer break. As a result, Daniel Ricciardo was brought in to replace the Dutchman. But, unfortunately for Ricciardo, he has suffered an injury, which has led to Liam Lawson taking the AlphaTauri seat momentarily.

So with eight rounds left of the season, Sargeant, Piastri and Lawson are all rookies. Piastri is the only one to have scored points so far, but Sargeant is optimistic for Williams’ remainder of the season.

He said “there’s a lot of good going on”, and whilst he’s got “plenty” to improve on still, they have “made a really good step forward.”

The next race is this weekend at the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore.

Headline Image: GettyImages