Williams F1 boss Jost Capito announced in Austin on Saturday that Formula 2 driver Sargeant will get a racing seat for 2023 provided he earns the necessary points for the FIA superlicence.
Sargeant currently has 28 points but could reach 30 with two clean practices for Williams in Mexico and Abu Dhabi, so he would need to finish in the top six in F2 qualifying to secure superlicence. He is currently third in the standings.
But Williams hasn’t made any firm decisions on who will get the second seat alongside Alex Albon for 2023 if Sargeant can’t secure the necessary points.
Motorsport.com asked if there was a backup plan in place, to which Capito replied: “Yes, but it’s not concrete, there’s no name .
“There will be drivers who don’t get a contract. There are still very good drivers, and they have the points from the superlicence, so it’s good.”
Williams is known to have explored various options to replace Nicholas Latifi for next year. The team had hoped to sign Oscar Piastri on loan from Alpine, only for the Australian to join McLaren.
Nyck de Vries was another driver in the spotlight after his impressive debut as a substitute for Albon at Monza, but was signed by AlphaTauri to replace Pierre Gasly, who is currently at Alpine.
Capito said teams “have to play politics” when negotiating the driver market, but added that Sargeant ‘s performances in F2 since Silverstone had convinced the team he was ready to take the seat .
Sargeant’s super license offer is aided by his practice starts for Williams, while he may also be in line for some bonus points based on his penalty history in previous years in F2 and F3.
The F2 standings remain very tight, with Sargeant sitting just 18 points off eighth place, with 39 still on the table in Abu Dhabi.
Sargeant said he would “leave it to Williams to figure out” the points he needed and that he was just “driving as fast as possible at all times.”
Capito explained that the extra training sessions for Sargeant were intended to “minimize risk” in the super license bid, as well as help prepare him for the move to the front line next year.
“We want to prepare Logan as best we can for the upcoming season,” Capito said. “That means he has to maximize the time in the car this year, so that’s why we gave him three FP1s.
“It gives him additional super license points. And then he will also do the young driver test after Abu Dhabi.
“It’s part of the preparation now for Logan to be in the best possible position for the start of next season.”
