Three reasons why Mick Schumacher is the right driver to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams

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Logan Sargeant has become the latest driver who is on the brink following a heavy and costly crash for Williams during the Dutch Grand Prix.

The American was completing laps in the tricky wet conditions in FP3 when exiting the Hungenholtz Bocht banked corner he dipped a wheel on the grass and crashed into the barriers.

While Logan Sargeant was able to get out unscathed, the crash led to a fire and caused significant damage to his Williams FW46. This forced him to miss qualifying and a chance for the team to start close to the points-paying positions, having previously finished as high as eighth with Alex Albon.

Sargeant has been under pressure for most of the season to improve his results, not least because Williams was shopping around for alternatives for next year.

While Carlos Sainz is set to partner Albon from 2025, talk has now turned to whether they sever ties with Sargeant early in a bid to finish in seventh position in the Constructors’ Championship worth millions in prize money at the end of the season.

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Who are the candidates to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams?

Three candidates have emerged as potential replacements: Liam Lawson, Frederik Vesti, and Mick Schumacher.

Red Bull’s Helmut Marko said Lawson could be loaned if will gain good experience, while Mercedes reserve Vesti has been rumoured as a consideration.

The most likely replacement could end up being Schumacher, given his availability and ties to Mercedes who supply Williams with power units.

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It might not seem like a sensible solution given Schumacher suffered a crash-ridden final year at Haas, with former team boss Guenther Steiner going on to admit in his book, Surviving to Drive, that he cost them in excess of £1.6 million from shunts in Saudi Arabia, Monaco and Japan.

But a year and a half into being benched, Schumacher has received praise from a lot of people within the paddock and made a lot of allies who back him to do a good job at Williams.

Three reasons why Mick Schumacher should replace Logan Sargeant

Schumacher was initially in the running to replace Esteban Ocon at Alpine before the team elected to go with 22-year-old Jack Doohan. So why would Williams want their reject?

A recent test between the two in a 2022 Alpine showed that while Doohan was fastest over one lap, Schumacher impressed in the race runs.

It is hardly unsurprising having been given a series of tests this year already that Doohan is the fastest of the pair, plus Alpine is likely wanting a return on its investment having reportedly poured ‘millions’ into a programme for the Australian this year.

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Allies of the German also rate his turnaround since being part of the Haas project, with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff saying Schumacher had a ‘super test’ with Alpine. Sebastian Vettel has also backed Schumacher to do a good job when speaking to Bild, pinpointing his familiarity with the Mercedes power unit and technical insight from his reserve role with the team.

Schumacher arguably has more experience than Lawson and Vesti at the upcoming circuits, both of which include the gruelling endurance of Singapore and hot conditions of Qatar.

Sargeant proved he could not score points at these tracks last year, relying on the disqualifications of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to be promoted to 10th at the US GP.

If Williams wants to make use of its next big upgrade package for this season, they need to seriously consider who will most likely translate that performance on track.