Sargeant one year ahead of schedule to Formula 1

F1 debut

Sargeant will make his debut in Formula 1 on behalf of Williams in 2023. The team designated the American driver as Nicholas Latifi's replacement and thus Alexander Albon's teammate for the 2023 F1 season. Yet this was not already pre-conceived, as Williams initially wanted Sargeant to mature in F2.

That let Sven Smeets, sporting director at Williams, know, according to Formel1.de. The plan would initially have been to let the Fort Lauderdale man drive in F2 for two years. During the season, however, it soon became clear that he might not need a second season.

At Williams, they point to Silverstone as the point where he really started to impress. At the British circuit, Sargeant won the feature race, having also managed a second place during the feature race in Baku. A week later, Sargeant also won the feature race at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Alonso lending a hand

However, there was still the plan to hire Oscar Piastri from Alpine, but that deal fell through when Fernando Alonso suddenly left for Aston Martin. This freed up a spot at Alpine for Piastri. However, the Australian himself had already signed with McLaren, so both deals fell through.

Thus, as part of the Williams Academy, Sargeant was passed on as the main candidate for the seat at Williams. He still needed to obtain the necessary licence points, but with fourth place in the last F2 championship, Sargeant secured his place on the F1 grid. A year earlier than people within the team had predicted.