‘Blunt truth’ from Williams leaves Logan Sargeant facing sudden F1 2024 exit

James Vowles says Logan Sargeant has to earn his Abu Dhabi spot

James Vowles may “want” Logan Sargeant to see out the Formula 1 season with Williams but he stopped short of guaranteeing the American will be in the car come Abu Dhabi.

Last Monday, Sargeant officially learned his Formula 1 fate when Williams announced Carlos Sainz would replace him as Alex Albon’s 2025 team-mate.

Sargeant has lost his Williams seat for 2025, but could his exit come sooner?

The Spaniard signed a multi-year deal that all but ends Sargeant’s short Formula 1 career after two seasons and, as things stand at the summer break, one point.

Although the Williams junior driver was promoted to the team in 2023 on the back of a fourth-placed result in Formula 2, he struggled to find his feet in Formula 1.

That led to speculation that his days could be numbered but Williams kept faith in him, adamant towards the back of 2023 he closed the gap to his team-mate Albon.

This season though, looking in from the outside, it’s hard to argue that point.

What’s next for soon-to-be-former Williams driver Logan Sargeant?

US F1 drivers ranked: Logan Sargeant 18th and Phil Hill beaten to No.1 spot

Logan Sargeant offers F1 future update as Williams door slams shut

Although Sargeant has not been whitewashed in qualifying by Albon, he has yet to score even a single point at tracks he now knows as a Formula 1 driver.

But while that has surely meant the end of his F1 career after December’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Vowles would not guarantee Sargeant would even see Abu Dhabi.

Using “brutal honesty”, the Williams team principal says the American still has to earn his seat in the final 10 races even if he does “want” to continue with him.

Asked point blank if Sargeant is ‘ going to see out the season with Williams’, Vowles told the F1 Nation podcast: “As I’ve said time and time again, I’ve done everything possible and I will continue to do so to give him the platform where he can do so.

“In other words, I want him to see out the season. I want him.

“He’s a Williams Academy driver, he will remain a Williams Academy driver. We’ve invested in him and I don’t just mean two years of Formula One. I mean also in his F2 career and otherwise. We have a responsibility towards him as well.

“He deserves to be a professional driver. He’s one of the 20 best Formula One drivers in the world, to start there.

“As long as he earns it, he has a seat and he has to earn it.

“I would say that the blunt truth behind it, which I provided him as well, is Silverstone and Budapest, good job. He really did move forward. You can see he’s seconds off Alex and Alex is faster than people think.

“But in Spa, we weren’t there and we have to understand why together, what’s different and will it apply to future races.

“That’s the blunt truth behind it.

“Many will take objection at this level of what I call brutal honesty on things but I much rather that he is given every opportunity but knows where he has to improve rather than a decision gets made from one day to the next without any influence from his side.”

Read next: Claire Williams exclusive: How Williams dream turned into a nightmare before forced sale