Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Abu Dhabi GP might be the reason why Williams has not yet booked Logan Sargeant for 2024

Frederik Vesti, a young racer who replaced Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi GP might haunt Logan Sargeant’s chances at the Williams garage for 2024.


Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Abu Dhabi GP might be the reason why Williams has not yet booked Logan Sargeant for 2024

Frederik Vesti and Logan Sargeant (via imago)

As the paddock braced itself to bid adieu to the 2023 season at the final Grand Prix weekend of the year at Abu Dhabi, several junior drivers got their first chance to drive the fabled Formula 1 cars in place of the current F1 drivers. Mercedes chose Frederik Vesti to step into the car in place of the seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

Vesti is part of the Mercedes Junior program that promotes talented young drivers onto the younger Formula classes (F2 and F3) in hopes of honing their skills further for a possible entry into Formula 1. Vesti, is, apparently, touted to take over the only unconfirmed seat for 2024. As the 2024 grid has taken solid form, a singular Williams seat remains to be the only open seat for the season. This seat currently belongs to the American driver Logan Sargeant. Now, comments from several notable F1 figures have suggested that Vesti is seriously considered to replace Sargeant at Williams next year.

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Following the famous Las Vegas Grand Prix, Mercedes’s own Boss, Toto Wolff commented on the Danish driver’s talent.

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Frederik is great, he’s had a very good season, He’s reliable, we have him in the simulator and he does a good job. Some of the guys who drove in FP1 deserve to be in a Formula 1 car.
Toto Wolff said about Frederik Vesti, as reported by Crash.net.

James Vowles had commented on Logan Sargeant’s chances for a contract renewal at Williams

Logan Sargeant transitioned from Formula 2 to Formula 1 at the end of the last season but has faced challenges in adapting to the elite World Championship with Williams. The American driver has managed to score only a singular point for his team, adding pressure on him to secure a drive for 2024. Williams Team Principal, James Vowles, had, previously, shared insights into Sargeant’s debut season and the possibility of a contract renewal.

James Vowles (via imago)
James Vowles (via imago)

With Williams yet to announce their second driver for the next season, Vowles clarified earlier that a decision on Sargeant’s future would likely come at the end of the season, offering the rookie a chance to prove himself until then. Vowles expressed support but stayed quite vague in his discussions about Williams’ 2024 lineup.

I think we’ve already committed in the direction of travel we’re in, he has targets to that, and it would be wrong to go against that decision point. So end of the year.

The Mercedes team have been working in cognition with the Williams garage for a considerable amount of time as the British outfit has become the German outfit’s number 2 team. It will be interesting to see if Mercedes makes way for a new F1 rookie, in the form of Frederik Vesti, next year as there have been no changes to the grid between the current and the next year.