Williams boss James Vowles says the team is “nowhere near” parting company with Logan Sargeant, who the team wants to keep in the car for 2024.
Sargeant has struggled in his rookie season and a string of costly crashes over the past few races has ramped up pressure on the Floridian.
The American’s place at the team is the only spot on the grid yet to be confirmed for 2024.
Vowles has moved to end any speculation of the team replacing Sargeant, saying Williams must shoulder some of the blame for his patchy form.
“Logan has very clear targets that he has to hit before the end of the season and we’re working with him continuously,” Vowles said.
“That’s the important point: we’re working with him. We want him to succeed, and we want him in the car next year. This is very much on us as well.
“We have taken someone straight from Formula 2 without any significant testing, put a day and a half in Bahrain in this car, and then wished them well on a season that has been awfully challenging for rookie drivers, full stop.
“We will continue to work with Logan and invest in Logan, as we want him to succeed. He’s on a journey with us as Williams.”
Due to the realities of being one of F1’s smaller teams operating within the budget cap, Williams has been unable to introduce its upgrades to both cars at the same points this season.
That means Sargeant’s teammate Alex Albon, who has had a hugely impressive campaign, has often run the most up-to-date version of the car.
Vowles said this is something the team takes into account when assessing Sargeant’s season.
“Logan is not on the same aerodynamic specification as Alex.
“We have updates that are on Alex’s car that are not on Logan’s due to the amount of attrition we’ve had this year. So often when you see a performance offset, it’s not quite what it would seem on the timing pages.
“We have a young driver programme that we will continue to invest in. Only at the point where all of us come to the conclusion that we’ve reached the end of that road will we make any decisions.
“But we’re nowhere near that yet.”
Nate Saunders
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