James Vowles knows people will be ‘very frustrated’ at what he’s just said about Logan Sargeant

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Logan Sargeant was the first of two Formula 1 drivers to lose his seat midway through the 2024 season. Williams boss James Vowles dropped him following a crash at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Sargeant made a ‘strange’ mistake at Zandvoort, keeping his foot in as he ran wide and onto the wet grass on the exit of turn three. This spun the car around and sent it spearing into the barriers.

While he climbed out of the fiery wreckage unscathed, his car was in no fit state to take part in qualifying. Williams had arrived in the Netherlands feeling hopeful thanks to a series of upgrades but Sargeant could only salvage 16th after a hugely expensive impact.

This was the culmination of a wretched 18 months for Sargeant, who only scored one point and never outpaced Alex Albon in a Grand Prix qualifying session. His lack of pace, combined with his proclivity for accidents, led to his dismissal.

His reputation has only deteriorated further in the weeks since. Replacement Franco Colapinto has been immediately on the pace, quadrupling his career points tally and challenging Albon at the outset.

Sargeant’s time in F1 will very likely come to a permanent end at the age of 23, with 37 race starts to his name. Three races after he lost his drive, RB axed Daniel Ricciardo, a far bigger and more experienced name.

James Vowles makes ‘controversial’ top 20 claim about Logan Sargeant

Vowles reflected on Sargeant’s stay in F1 during an appearance on the Beyond The Grid podcast. He maintains, ‘controversially’, that the American is one of the best 20 drivers in motorsport.

He knows those comments are likely to trigger a backlash, particularly after his decision to move him on, but he says Sargeant fell victim to the brutal nature of modern F1. You can no longer afford to be a ‘tenth or two off’ your teammate.

The field has converged in what is the third year of a four-year ruleset. As such, small margins can cost multiple positions.

Sargeant was, on average, 0.224 seconds slower than Albon in dry qualifying sessions this year. The team believe he made a small improvement over the winter but that wasn’t enough to save his drive.

“He’s amongst the top 20 drivers in motorsport, which will be controversial saying that,” Vowles said. “There’ll be a bunch of people very frustrated by that, but that’s the level that he’s at.

“And he was a matter of a tenth or two off. But our game now, the one that’s been decided, and by the way, previous years, a tenth or two would have still kept you in roughly the right position. It doesn’t anymore. That puts you back five places.”

Surprised James Vowles shares how Franco Colapinto compares to Alex Albon on Williams simulator

Sargeant faced constant questions over whether he was good enough during his stint in F1. Meanwhile, his successor has attracted interest from multiple teams.

Williams don’t have a seat for him next year after Albon signed a new deal and Carlos Sainz agreed to join from Ferrari. But Sauber are interested in Colapinto as a potential teammate for Nico Hulkenberg.

That would likely be a loan move, which would mean the Argentine would remain an option for Williams in future years. But Red Bull could also pay to sign Colapinto, depending on how their Liam Lawson driver swap works out.

They’ve been hugely impressed by how quickly he’s reached the level of a far more established teammate. Indeed, Vowles says Colapinto matches Albon on the simulator, and he’s on the verge of doing that on track as well.