‘Absolutely not’… Eddie Jordan admits 22-year-old driver would never get into his Formula 1 team

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Former Formula 1 team principal Eddie Jordan has admitted that Williams driver Logan Sargeant would never get into his driver line-up.

Jordan was speaking to David Coulthard on the Formula For Success Podcast.

The experienced pair were dissecting the 2023 Formula 1 season and discussing the American rookie.

Logan Sargeant now faces a nervous wait over the winter break to see whether or not Williams will retain him for next year.

The 22-year-old managed to score just a single point all season in the seventh-quickest car on the grid.

That came at one of his home races in Austin, but he needed Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to be disqualified to finish in the top ten.

Alex Albon has performed exceptionally well this year and although team principal James Vowles wouldn’t have been expecting miracles from Sargeant, he would have hoped the pair were closer in terms of pace.

Eddie Jordan has admitted he would be more ruthless than the Williams boss and not have Sargeant in his team.

During his time in F1, he was required to have the occasion pay driver, but they were always relatively quick.

Sargeant has failed to impress thus far and the glimpses of talent he has shown have been too few and far between.

Jordan wouldn’t have Williams driver Sargeant in his F1 team

Former race winner David Coulthard asked Jordan: “I’d be curious to know if he was in your team and there was no financial benefit for keeping him or nationality benefit, would he make your two?

“With the hope that he’s going to discover some pace and the pennies going to drop, how do you see it?”

Jordan replied: “First of all, talent is something that you have and you can’t buy it. Would he drive the car if he had no money? Absolutely not.

“Would he drive the car if he had a whole heap of money? I’m not even sure he would because if I look back at the Jarno Trullis, the Ralf Schumachers, the Eddie Irvines and the Barrichellos and stuff like that, whilst people might think that we went for money primarily, there was a fine line.

“Yes, we need someone to help pay the bills, but it’s not absolutely imperative.

“Sargeant would not be in my team.”

Sargeant will hope that the Williams hierarchy are more patient than Jordan but the lack of news at this stage of the year might be a slight concern.

There are so many young drivers desperate to break into Formula 1 at the moment with opportunities becoming harder to come by.

The risk for Williams is whether bringing in another rookie to replace Sargeant will fix the issue.

However, someone like Liam Lawson who deserves a drive in F1 and has already proven he’s quick enough is still available and could make a last-minute switch from the Red Bull group.