American F1 Driver Logan Sargeant Benched At Australian Grand Prix Because Williams Racing Ran Out Of Cars
It wasn’t his fault.
Williams Racing driver Logan Sargeant, who is the only American currently competing in the series, will have to sit out the Australian Grand Prix so that his teammate Alex Albon can borrow his car.
Albon wrecked his own car during practice and the team didn’t bring a backup with it for the trip to Australia.
“We are hugely disappointed that the damage sustained to the chassis has meant we need to withdraw it from the weekend,” team principal James Vowles said in a press release about the situation.
“It’s unacceptable in modern day Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis, but it is a reflection of how behind we were in the winter period and an illustration of why we need to go through significant change in order to get ourselves in a better position for the future. As a result, we have had some very difficult decisions to make this afternoon. While Logan should not have to suffer from a mistake that he did not make, every race counts when the midfield is tighter than ever, so we have made the call based on our best potential to score points this weekend.”
Albon outperformed Sargeant in the first two races this season and scored 27 of the team’s 28 points in 2023.
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“I have to be totally honest and say that no driver would want to give up his seat. I would never want anything like this to happen,” Albon said in the release.
“Logan has always been a consummate professional and a team player from day one, and this won’t be an easy one for him to take. At this point though, I cannot dwell on the situation and my only job now is to maximize our potential this weekend and work with the whole team to make sure we do the best job possible.”
Sargeant also had a spin during practice, but didn’t come into contact with anything.
This is Albon’s sixth season in Formula One and Sargeant’s second.
“This is the hardest moment I can remember in my career and it’s absolutely not easy.” Sargeant said.
“I am however completely here for the team and will continue to contribute in any way that I can this weekend to maximize what we can do.”
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