Williams boss James Vowles very impressed with 22-year-old’s pace at Brazilian GP

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Williams team principal James Vowles has admitted he was impressed with the way Logan Sargeant drove in Brazil last weekend.

Vowles was providing a debrief on the race at Interlagos on the team’s official website.

It’s been an up-and-down season for the team based in Grove, Oxfordshire, but they’ll have seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship firmly in their sights.

They’ve relied almost exclusively on Alex Albon to score their points.

The Thai driver has been exceptional this season and at 27 must be wondering if and when he’ll be given another chance at a top team in the future after a difficult spell with Red Bull.

He’s been partnered by Logan Sargeant this season and the American rookie hasn’t had the easiest start in Formula 1.

Sargeant finally earned his first point in F1 in Austin thanks to two disqualifications with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc excluded.

He got close to adding to his tally in Brazil and Vowles admits he was very pleased with Sargeant in Sao Paulo.

The 22-year-old benefitted from a quarter of the grid being eliminated within the first lap of the race.

However, he still had to perform in difficult circumstances and might count himself unlucky that he didn’t secure a top-ten finish.

Vowles singles out Sargeant for praise in Brazil

Vowles was asked whether Albon could have scored points in Brazil had he avoided the crash in turn one and said: “It’s a good question and not one that I can really answer.

“Logan [Sargeant] has definitely been stepping up the performance, you can see in the Sprint Race that he finished just a few seconds behind Alex [Albon].

“So, in the circumstances, it’s hard to interpolate where Alex would have been in that main Grand Prix but I think having two cars would have created a more strategic opportunity to do something different to everyone else.

“So, that presents a chance, the other one is at the point of incident, he [Albon] had near enough cleared both Haas cars and that would have created a good opportunity for him to maximise his gap in the race relative to Logan who was caused in traffic.”

Sargeant is still waiting for Vowles and the Williams team to confirm his seat in 2024 and his performance in Brazil will help his cause.

Felipe Drugovich being confirmed as Aston Martin’s reserve driver for next year is a boost for the American.

Right now, no alternatives stand out but he will know that he needs to get closer to his teammate to secure his long-term future in F1.