Logan Sargeant Ready for ‘Special Moment’ of Debut Free Practice Session at COTA

Logan Sargeant will make his FIA Formula 1 World Championship free practice debut with the Williams Racing team this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas, and the American is excited by the prospect of driving in front of his home fans.

Sargeant was signed by Williams last year to join their young driver development programme and first ran for them in the young driver test in Abu Dhabi in December, but this weekend will see him get his first chance behind the wheel of the FW44.

The twenty-one-year-old, who has been linked with a full-time promotion to the team in 2023, hopes the make the most of the session at the Austin track, and he is extremely thankful to Williams for everything they’ve done for him since he joined their development programme.

“To be making my FP1 debut at COTA in my home country is special moment for me,” said Sargeant, who has been competing in the FIA Formula 2 championship this season.  “I’d like to thank Williams and Dorilton Motor Sports for this opportunity and the support they’ve given me since I joined the Academy this time last year in Austin.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time in the simulator at Grove and shadowing the team at previous race weekends to help with my preparations for FP1.

“It’ll be interesting to see how the new generation of cars compare to the what I previously drove at the Young Driver Test last year. I’m excited to jump in the car and make the most of the session.”

Dave Robson, the Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams, says Sargeant will do the same work that regular driver Nicholas Latifi would do across the one-hour session on Friday.

“Logan Sargeant joins us on track for the first time this year having previously driven the FW43 at last year’s post-season test,” he said.

“He will drive Nicholas’s car in FP1 and will complete the usual engineering programme on that car.”